For His Sake
by iSnowX3
Summary: Amu is Ikuto's newest secretary. Since Day 1, the two of them were constantly irritated and hated each other. What if Amu decides to put aside her hate for a day and lend a helping hand when Ikuto truly needs someone? AMUTO R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1

**Third story. Since I have no where else to put this, thank you guys soooo much for 4OO reviews on 'Love Lies'. It really meant a lot to me, and hopefully this story'll be just as great. Though I doubt that any other story can get to 1OO reviews in six chapters. That was a miracle.**

**Just to clear things up in this story. No charas. Amu and Ikuto haven't met yet. And none of that crap about Easter being evil.  
And um.. this is the first time I'm trying any story without planning it out first. The first time I'll just plan as I go. This isn't going to be easy.. **

**A quick note: CHAPTER 42 IS EPIC WIN. Except for the end where Ikuto has to leave D:**

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Amu knocked on the door, the nerves killing her brain. She had already made it this far, all the way to Easter's building up to the twenty-third floor, and to the small office room on that floor. And it wasn't even that big of a deal; all she was hired to be was the secretary of some minor boss of Easter, one of the major entertainment companies of Japan. And that minor boss was supposedly waiting for her on the other side of this door, according to the clerk in the lobby on the ground floor.

So why was she so nervous? Well, Amu herself had no idea. She took a deep breath just as the door opened, and she saw a man with blue hair standing in the doorway. Amu couldn't help but stare at him. His blue hair was slightly messed up, as if he made no attempt to fix it this morning, and he stared at her with mesmerizing, mdnight blue eyes.

"Hinamori Amu, am I correct?" He asked in his deep voice. Amu felt her spine tingle. Whether it was from her nerves or his voice, she doesn't know.

"Y-Yeah," Amu stuttered lamely. "And y-you are...."

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto," The man finished for her. "Your boss."

Amu felt a light blush beginning to grow on her cheeks, but quickly blinked, clearing all her thoughts. She mentally slapped herself.

_Baka! You shouldn't be thinking of things like that! This guy is just your boss, and you're just his new secretary. Besides, you already have a boyfriend, Tadase? Remember?! How do you think Tadase would feel if he found out that you might like somebody else?_

Ikuto stared at the pinkette in front of him that looked like she was about to explode or something. He raised a perfect eyebrow.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice snapping Amu out of her thoughts. She took a second to breathe.

"I'm fine," She said, holding her breath so that she wouldn't stammer and blush again. Ikuto looked skeptical, but didn't ask her anymore questions.

"Okay," He said in a business-like voice. "Your first job. Go to the small kitchen by the elevators and get me some coffee. That should be fairly simple. Oh, and try to get it done in ten minutes."

"H-Hai," Amu squeaked before practically running in the direction he was pointing to. Ikuto sighed.

_She's different..._

*****

Amu felt her phone vibrating as she walked into the small kitchen. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that Tadase had texted her.

_From: Hotori Tadase  
gomen, but i won't be able to make it tonite.  
July 1, 1O:25 AM_

Amu frowned. This happened so often nowadays. She started up the coffee machine before texting him back.

_From: Hinamori Amu  
why!? again?! you've cancelled all our dates since last _month. _what is with you?  
July 1, 1O:27 AM_

She grabbed the cups from the shelf and set the on the counter before she felt another vibrate.

_From: Hotori Tadase  
really? i always thought it was less than that. anyways, sorry. somethings came up and i'm busy.  
July 1, 1O:28 AM_

Amu rolled her eyes. It was always the same excuse.

_From: Hinamori Amu  
yeah well, why don'ty ou just tell me what this 'something' is? you always just say something, never tell me what that thing actually is  
July 1, 1O:3O AM_

Amu placed the phone back in her pocket. Almost instantly she felt it begin to vibrate again.

_From: Hotori Tadase  
sorry, but i can't right now. just trust me.. i swear it's nothing bad. look, how about i make it all up to you later? i'll take you somewhere really nice soon.  
July 1, 1O:31 AM_

She sighed. Tadase has always been cancelling on her; it's been making Amu think that there was something missing in their relationship. She doubted that any normal boyfriend / girlfriend couple should cancel every date for an entire month straight. Plus they barely even talked. It was always texts, instant messages, emails, never face to face talking or even a phone call. It's been approxmiately 3 weeks since she's even heard Tadase's voice. Slightly irritated, she quickly texted her reply.

_From: Hinamori Amu  
fine. but don't forget about our 2 year anniversary. it's coming up in a couple of months. oh and don't respond to this. doubt i'm supposed to text to my boyfriend while at work  
July 1, 1O:32 AM_

Amu heard something bubbling behind her. She quickly whipped around and saw that the coffee in the machine was beginning to boil over and spill onto the ground. Amu gasped and quickly began to clean up the mess.

"Wow," A voice said behind her, causing Amu to jump. She looked over her shoulder and saw Ikuto standing there, a smirk plastered on his face. He walked over and helped Amu clean up the mess.

"How about..." Ikuto suggested. "We pretend this never happened?"

Amu smiled sheepishly.

"Sure," She said. Ikuto glared at her with a look of annoyance. Amu's smile quickly faded.

"Sorry," She mumbled, hanging her head in shame. Ikuto frowned at her and stood up.

"Whatever," He called over his shoulder as he walked away. "Just don't do it again."

Amu frowned.

"What a bad mood," She said quietly to herself, following him out.

**** 2 Hours Later *****

Ikuto glared at Amu as she walked back in through the doors to his office. Amu carried the heavy stack of papers and slammed them onto Ikuto's desk, panting heavily and glaring back at him.

"Here..." She said, gasping for breath. "Is that shitload of papers that you wanted copied."

Ikuto raised an eyebrow as he quickly scanned the stack.

"Finally," He muttered. "You finally got one thing right."

Amu rolled her eyes. It had only been two hours since she began her job here at Easter, and she had already managed to mess up everything: from the spilled coffee to making smoke come out of the copy machine. Instead of brushing off the last incident like he did with the coffee, Ikuto made Amu run all the way across the street, make the copies, and run back.

Amu narrowed her eyes at him. It was hard to believe that just a couple hours ago every movement of his made her heart thump in awe, and now everything he did made her twitch in irritation.

"Well how is it my fault that the stupid copy machines they have in this building have so many unnecessary buttons?!" She demanded, still exhausted from her run. Ikuto shrugged.

"It's not my problem," He said nonlachantly. Amu raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why the bad mood?" She asked.

"Because being here sucks," Ikuto told her darkly.

"You hate this place so much," Amu pointed out. "Why don't you just quit?"

"That's none of your business," Ikuto quickly snapped at her. "You wouldn't get it."

Amu sighed.

_This was going to be a _longgg _and horrible job experience__..._

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**Something tells me that this isn't going to get many reviews.. oh well! Review anyways? I have a tendency to delete stories that don't get 3 reviews within 24 hours, so just review, okay?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you AmuxIkutoFan, Miki-Chann, Pop Dragon, amutoamuikutosydney, Himeka Tsukiyomi, ArtGrrl Sunna-Bluecat, appupuppu, XYNDiCATE, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatsui, xhappily-randomx, Natsuya801923, BloodxRose17, and for reviewing.**

**13 reviews.. not bad, even though I hoped for more. Oh well. This story isn't getting deleted anymore :D**

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Amu panted as she impatiently pressed the button for the elevator. Ikuto had nothing for Amu to do today, so he decided to make her run across the street and go pick up some takeout for his lunch.

It wasn't like Amu could drive, since she didn't have her license yet. Besides, it would be a waste to just drive about a couple feet across the street and back to pick up a small box of food your irritable boss wanted.

So Amu walked. The sun was shining brightly today, plus the fact that it was July, the hottest month of the year, wasn't helping much. Amu practically melted as soon as she stepped out of Easter's nicely air-conditioned building and out onto the street. She swore if she was one of the small eggs sold at the takeout store and was thrown out onto the street, she would've been cooked by now.

By the time she reached Ikuto's office that was almost on the top floor of the building, Amu felt that her legs would give way under her any moment now. She opened the door to Ikuto's office, not even bothering to knock, and threw the small bag in his direction.

"Here's your lunch," She spat, leaning against the door and breathing heavily.

Ikuto smirked at her misery. He caught the bag mix-air, opening it and began picking out certain various foods.

"Wow. This is one of the few things you haven't dropped, broken, or somehow made less useful than a pile of trash. And by the way, I don't like this stuff," He said casually, gesturing to a small mound of food he had piled onto a small napkin. "But to get the stuff that I do want I have to also get this crap. You want it?"

Amu glared at him hatefully.

"Like I'll eat anything you've _touched, _let alone the food you're only giving me because you don't want it for yourself," She said darkly. "Isn't there a rule against mistreating your secretaries like this?"

Ikuto shrugged.

"Let's find out," He suggested, reaching down and opening the lowest drawer under his desk. Ikuto pulled out a thin packet and began flipping through it, quietly reading parts of it aloud to himself as he searched for something.

"What's that?" Amu asked curiously.

"Your contract," Ikuto told her without looking up. The two of them fell into a silence, the only sound in the room was the turning of pages from Ikuto.

"Found it!" He said suddenly, tossing the packet to Amu lightly. It was already flipped open to the page Ikuto mentioned. Amu read the paper.

_... as the secretary, you are to abide any rules set to you by those higher than you. Part of your job is to also do as your boss says without complaint..._

"God Easter is stupid," Amu muttered to herself. "You would think that I was getting a job as a maid, not a secretary."

Ikuto's smirk changed to a sarcastic smile.

"Welcome to my world," He said in falsely cheerfull tone. "Where everything about Easter and ther rules sound like freaking BS!"

Amu played along with him.

"Yeah," She continued in her mock-understanding voice. "Only your world doesn't have overcontrolling, selfish, butt headed excuses for bosses that can make you do whatever they want and are too lazy to _walk across the street to pick up their own lunches!"_

Ikuto's teasing abruptly stopped.

"Trust me," He muttered. "There are those in my world."

Amu raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," She said sarcastically. "Right. That explains why you treat me like garbage."

Ikuto sighed; the whole topic irritating him.

"Like I told you," He said through his teeth. "You wouldn't understand."

Amu backed away, slightly frightened by his change of mood.

"Okay, okay," She said quickly. "No need to kill me over this!"

A sudden, sharp knock on the door interupted their mini-argument. The door slowly opened just a crack, and a beautiful girl slipped in.

Her black hair curled down past her shoulders, and her eyes were a deep blue. She wore _extremely _short dark blue shorts. The ruffled V-neck of her tanktop went really low, showing some cleavage.

Amu frowned at the outfit.

_What a slut... who is she anways? But she looks familiar... almost like I've seen her before..._

"Ikuto!" The girl shouted cheerfully, skipping over to him and sitting on his lap. Ikuto immediately brightened and gently pulled her closer. The two of them began cuddling each other until the girl noticed Amu standing in the doorway awkwardly.

"Ikuto," She said in her melodious voice. "Who's this?"

Amu waved tentatively.

"Hinamori Amu," She said shyly. "Tsukiyomi-san's secretary."

The girl nodded in understanding.

"Oh!" She said. "So _you're_ the secretary Ikuto keeps complaining about all the time! By the way, nice to meet you Amu! Name's Suki!"

Amu gasped.

_So _that's _why she seems so famliar! _

"Suki..." She asked. "As in _Tanaka _Suki?"

Suki nodded, smiling.

"Tanaka Suki.." Amu said. "As in the _singer?!_"

Suki grinned and nodded again.

"The one and only!" She announced proudly. Amu gaped again.

_And to think I thought of one of my favorite singers _ever_ as a slut.._

"Wow..." She awed. "I've never met a real celebrity before!"

Suki turned back to Ikuto.

"Ikutooo..." She said sweetly. "I don't see why you complain about her all the time! Amu-chan sounds like a fun person, not an airhead!"

Amu twitched slightly and glared at Ikuto.

"What exactly did you tell her?" She asked through her teeth. Ikuto shrugged.

"I did nothing wrong," He said. "I just told her the truth. There's no way someone who isn't an airhead could make _smoke come out of a copy machine _and _make a coffee machine spill coffee all over the floor._"

Amu decided to ignore him. She turned back to Suki.

"So what is a famous singer doing here?" She asked.

"I'm licensed under Easter," Suki explained. "So I'm here to go record a new song song. Plus I thought I'd sneak away to visit my boyfriend Ikuto for a little bit before hand!"

Amu felt like everything she was learning today was a big (and sometimes bad) surprise.

"You're Ikuto's girlfriend?" She asked in shock.

"Yeah.. so _back off!_" Suki joked. Amu shook her head vigorously.

"Like I'd ever want a guy like him!" She shouted angrily. "Besides, I already have a boyfriend... Hotori Tadase."

Amu thought she saw a flicker of horror on Suki's face, but told herself it was just the light since a second later Suki's face was the completly normal, overly-happy face that Amu saw since she met her today.

She felt her heart sink as she watched the cute interaction between Ikuto and Suki.

_It's funny... Ikuto and Suki look perfect for each other... unlike me and Tadase, who are..._

Amu cut herself off, trying not to think of how to finish that thought.

All of a sudden, a small beeping was heard. Suki looked down at her watch and gasped, jumping off of Ikuto's lap.

"Crap!" She shouted. "I'm late! Gotta go record the song."

She ran out of the room. Ikuto shrugged and turned his attention back to his food.

"Hey," He complained. "There's no drink in this!"

He looked back up at Amu.

"Go to the gas station two blocks from here and get me a some soda from the food store there," Ikuto ordered her. Amu glared at him.

"I hate you so much," She hissed. Ikuto smirked.

"I hate you too," He said cheerfully, studying her anger.

"Anyways," He began again. "If you hate it here so much, why don't you quit? God knows why I can't, but what about you? There's nothing stopping you from walking out that door."

Amu glared at him.

"Like you said," She retorted. "You wouldn't get it. No one would."

With that, she spun on her heel and walked towards the elevator.

"Get me some tayaki too!" Ikuto called out to her.

"FINE." Came the angry reply.

Ikuto laughed as he heard the elevator 'ding'.

_Baka.. doesn't know that there's a vending machine down the hall that sells the exact same stuff as the gas station.. not that I'm going to tell her until she gets back.. it'll be fun making her walk all that way and back when she could've walked a couple of feet instead._

*****

Suki slipped into the bathroom just outside of the recording studio. She pulled out her phone, dialing the familiar numbers, the one that she had called millions of times the past week to plan out their nights together.

"This is Hotori Tadase speaking," The voice on the other end said.

"Tadase-kun?" Suki whispered urgently. "It's me, Suki. We're going to have to be more careful with what we're doing. Turns out your not-so-precious Amu is the secretary of my Ikuto!"

She heard a groan from the other end.

"Damn..." Tadase muttered. "But you're still spending the night at my place tonight, right?"

Suki grinned.

"Of course!" She said. "Why would I know? I've been doing that for the past couple of weeks! But make sure you promise not tell Amu or Ikuto about any of this!"

Tadase chuckled.

"Of course," He laughed.

*****

Amu glowered at the ground as she waited in line at the store, holding a can of soda and a bag of tayaki. Suddenly she heard her phone ring. Amu pulled it out of her pocket, her face falling as she saw that it was another text from Tadase.

_From: Hotori Tadase  
gomen amu-chan. can't make it to the amusement park with you today. really busy today. how about postponing it to next week? gomenesai. still love you though -bye  
July 2 3:58 PM_

Amu almost groaned aloud.

_What is with him?!?!_

She reluctantly texted back her reply.

_From: Hinamori Amu  
you know what? just forget it. don't bother postponing it. you're so busy you're probably going to cancel that too. how about we just forget about everything and just do something really big when you're not busy anymore? maybe try for something better on our two year anniversary? love you too -bye  
July 2 3:59 PM_

Amu sighed. There was seriously something wrong with the two of them together.

_*****_

Tadase grinned as he received Amu's text. He picked up his phone and called Suki again. Of course, he was automaticaly forwarded to voicemail since Suki had to turn off her phone while recording her song.

"Hey, Suki-chan," Tadase said. "Just cancelled on Amu, so you can come over earlier than planned tonight if you want. Call back soon. Love you bye."

He hung up, smiling.

_Having two girlfriends is so much fun... especially when one's completely clueless about what's going on and the other just loves the idea of cheating on people. Plus one of thems a world famous singer..._

_

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***insert dramatic music here* DUN DUN DUN. Okay so yeah.. um.. review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you Miki-Chann, Natsuya801923, Himeka Tsukiyomi, , xxxUtauloverxxx, cOnFiRmEd InSaNiTy, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, xhappily-randomx, colourfulgurl, balloon .peppermint, -SaMiE-DoOdLe-, XxDotheGIRdancexX, AmuxIkutoFan, and Pop Dragon for reviewing!**

**14 Reviews.... and just like last time I wanted more, but this'll do.**

**And just so you know, these aren't consecutive days. Like Chapter 3 doesn't come right after Chapter 2. There's a couple weeks / days in between each chapter. Like Chapter three is a couple weeks after Chapter 2. I can't write enough chapters to represent each day one after another.**

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_From: Hotori Tadase  
have to cancel today's date too. gomen.  
July 28, 1O:O9 AM_

Amu sighed, slamming her phone closed in irritation and not even bothering to reply. She stared through the glass wall of Ikuto's office, where he and Suki were clearly making out. They could atleast have done that in a room with all four walls that were soild, instead of three solid walls and one completely transparent glass one.

The pinkette felt a twinge of jealousy. Tadase hadn't kissed her in a while, and she missed the feeling. Plus the fact that his texts were getting shorter and shorter and his 'love you's at the end of them were disappearing was also begining to piss her off.

She swiveled in her chair boredly. It was almost as if Ikuto had forgotten of her existence. He rarely gave Amu anything to do anymore, since he was so wrapped up in doing... _things _with Suki._.. _in his office. In fact, whenever Suki was around, Ikuto would actually be _nice _to Amu since Suki looked like she had taken a liking to Amu. However as soon as Suki left, Ikuto would be back to the inconsiderate, hateful person she had always known.

Amu's thoughts were interupted when she noticed Ikuto standing behind her.

"Where's Suki?" She asked. Ikuto shrugged.

"She just left," He replied. Amu frowned.

"Awww," She whined. "I wish she was still here. You're alot nicer when she's here."

Ikuto glared at her.

"Very funny," He said sarcastically. He tossed her a thick stack of papers. "Now go make 5 copies of this."

Amu pouted, but picked up the stack.

"Fine," She muttered. "Be that way. Go ahead and be a stupid, lazy-assed butthead that shows no sympathy for his secretary that spends all her time doing your useless crap."

She spun on her heel and walked away quickly, not even waiting for an answer for her boss. Ikuto couldn't help but smile slightly as he watched her leave.

*******An hour later**

"Stupid.. lazy... butthead... won't even order a new copy machine so I don't have to walk across the street and use the one there..." Amu muttered to herself as she carried the papers back to Ikuto's office. She burst through the door, not bothering to knock like always and slamming the papers down onto the desk. Ikuto jumped up, startled as the table shook, and glared at Amu.

"What was that for?!" He demanded. Amu narrowed her eyes and brushed some hair out from in front of her eyes.

"Are you ever going to get a new copy machine?" She asked him angrily. "You send me across the street to make the copies so often the freaking people that work there know me already! Plus it's so hot out and you even make me _walk _there!"

Ikuto raised an eyebrow.

"You don't even have a license, so you'd have to walk anwyays," He retorted. "And _I _should buy it? You broke it, you buy a new one."

Amu opened her mouth to protest but closed it, not saying anything. Ikuto chuckled lightly.

"They seriously remember you over there?" He asked. Amu glared at him.

"Shut up!" She screamed. "It's embarassing. Every time I walk in there now someone goes 'Hey! Isn't that girl with the pink hair the one that comes across the street every day to make all those copies?'!"

Ikuto shrugged.

"It's not my fault," He pointed out. "Remeber, it was _you_ who broke the one we had here. So it'll be _you_ who either gets us a new one or goes across the street."

Amu frowned. She hated either choice.

"Fine," She muttered. "I'll just keep going across the street."

Ikuto laughed and checked over the copies briefly. He seemed to look satisfied until he got towards the middle of the stack, where he frowned.

"Hey Amu," He said suddenly. "You missed a page, so everything past here is one page off."

Amu rasied an eyebrow.

"Really?" She asked skeptically, taking the packet and looking through it. Her confident expression turned into a look of horror.

"Dang..." She mumured under her breath. "So I have to redo all this."

Ikuto smirked.

"Yup, and seriously," He said, shaking his head. "With brains like that you'll never be sucessfull in life."

Amu twitched.

"Well if you think I'm so horrible at this," She snapped. "Why don't you go do it yourself?! Obviously you're implying that you're much smarter than me, so go. Go make your own stupid copies and don't yell at me for doing them wrong!"

"I would," Ikuto retorted. "If I had the time! I'm busy with other things too you know!"

Amu rolled her eyes.

"Like what?!" She asked. "What are you so busy with? _Making out_ with Suki? You sure sound really busy with that to me!"

Ikuto sighed as Amu walked out, both of them clearly angry.

_She really doesn't get it, does she?_

***insert scenes of a pissed Ikuto making a pissed Amu do random and pointless yet annoying things here*  
***** The Next Day**

Amu cheerfully walked into Easter's building, confident that she could handle Ikuto's arrogance and harsh demands today. She was in a really good mood today, waving and saying 'Hi' to everyone she passed by on the way, happy about last nights events.

Tadase had _called, _not texted, _called _her. The two of them had made plans to go somewhere together on their two year anniversary. It wasn't going to be anything big since Tadase claimed that he was still busy, just going out together to some restaurant. But anything was good enough for Amu at this point. She rarely saw Tadase anymore, just seeing him walk by on the street would satisfy her.

Amu opened the door to Ikuto's office, once again, without knocking.

"So Baka-fish. What do you want to torture me with today-," She cut herself off when she saw the scene in front of her.

Ikuto was fast asleep in his chair, his head falling forwards almost low enough to touch the desk in front of him. There were papers scattered around him, and his computer monitor still glowed, flashing many alerts that Ikuto probably slept through.

Amu crept over silently, intending to wake up her arrogant boss, but decided against it once she got a look of his face. He looked so... different than usual.

A smile crept up on the pinkette's face.

_He actually looks kind of decent.. like a guy I could talk to without getting yelled at... Not like that slave-driver he usually acts like when he's awake. But he also looks so exhausted, as if this is the first time he slept in days. That can't be, right? He's so lazy, anything that's too much work for him he makes me do. Unless.. he's been doing it himself instead of making me do it? Maybe there's a different side of him that I don't know about yet...?_

Amu reached up to turn off the computer monitor, but thought she'd take a look around at his stuff before doing so. She saw something labeled 'calendar' and decided to double click it. Amu almost gasped out loud at how packed it was. Every moment of everyday had something that Ikuto was supposed to be doing, with only a couple hours set aside each day for sleep and a bit of time every now and then for Suki. She almost laughed when she saw an empty space in which was written _"If there's nothing to do then yell at Amu." _

She had also noticed that every few days there would be small reminders written here and there. Some were national holidays, some were events that she had never heard of- Amu raised an eyebrow at 'Worldwide Cat Appretiation Day' (which I really don't think exists so don't ask me about it)-, but most of them were birthdays.

Some where family member's birthdays, some where friends, but a majority of the dates were the birthdays of the workers at Easter. Amu pointed out a couple of the people's that she knew, imprinting them in her brain so that she would remember to wish them a happy birthday if she ever passed by them on the marked days.

Just out of curiosity, Amu scrolled down, past July, past August, and all the way down to the end of September. She didn't stop scrolling until she reached September 24, her own birthday. In giant, red words, it said

_Suki's birthday. GET A PRESENT._

Amu frowned. So she and Suki had the same birthday. She continued reading. There was more under that in a much smaller, black font.

_... and Amu's birthday. Get her a present too. (?)_

Amu raised an eyebrow.

_Why would he get **me **anything? He hates me.. doesn't he...?_

"Baka," A voice mumbled behind her, causing Amu to jump."You're not supposed to go through people's stuff."

Amu slowly turned around and gasped when she saw Ikuto glaring sleepily at her. She jumped up away from the computer, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I wasn't going through your stuff," She retorted. "You fell asleep with the computer on and I was just turning it off. By the way, why _were _you asleep here, anyways?"

Ikuto shrugged. He yawned and stood up, wincing a bit at how stiff he was.

"Don't know," He replied. "Was up working until 5 and fell asleep somewhere around there."

Amu eyed the clock. 8:3O.

"So you've only slept for three and half hours? Do you do this all the time?" She asked skeptically. Ikuto narrowed his eyes at her and nodded.

"Normally I'm up before you get over here," He corrected. "But yes. Yes I do do this most of the time."

Amu raised an eyebrow.

"And you're getting me a present?" She continued. "I thought you hate me."

Ikuto shrugged again and nodded.

"I get everyone a present," He told her. "It's just that _some people's _are a bit smaller and cheaper than other peoples."

He glared at Amu.

"Now go get me some water," He muttered, sitting back down on the chair and closing his eyes again. "I don't trust you with the coffee, and there's no way a sane person can mess up the water. So just go get me that."

Ikuto leaned against the chair and was asleep again within seconds. Amu smiled softly at the sleeping figure and picked up a jacket she saw hanging by the door, gently laying it across Ikuto.

"Don't you know it's unhealthy to sleep that little?" She murmured before leaving to go get the water.

As soon as she left the office, Amu mentally slapped herself.

_What was that back there? Why were you suddenly _nice to him _back there!?!?!? You treated him almost as good as you treat _Tadase, _who is _your boyfriend_! You can't do that! But back thre, he looked so harmless, so innocent._

Amu gasped at her own thoughts and shook her head vigorously.

_STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT. You can't feel that way about him! You _hate _him, remember?!_

She sighed as she reached the kitchen, carefully pouring the water and making sure she wouldn't spill it.

_Maybe.. it wouldn't hurt to be a bit nicer to him now that you know how hard he actually works. Maybe... he's actually not that bad of a guy..._

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**:O Review please. Sorry for not updating sooner. To be honest, I actually finished this on _Friday, _but everytime I went to the document manager page it would say '4OO Error. Bad Request'. Of course I have no idea what that means but the page wouldn't load. So I kept trying every now and then over the last couple of days and finaly it works.**

**REVIEW. NOW.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you xhappily-randomx, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Miki-Chann, xxxUtauloverxxx, Diabolical Kitsuora, Pinkiie-Chan, Pop Drago, ChocolateStrawberryxXx, Snowrosex3, AmuxIkutoFan, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Hakumei .xo, ShugoPrincess, rushi luvs anime 8D, and Natsuya801923 for reviewing!**

**15 reviews. Not bad, but still. At least it was more than last time. I just realized that every chapter I'm getting one more review than I did for the last. 13, then 14 and now 15.**

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_Even if you wait, those dreams will get farther away  
If it's a hard day, then please just think of me!  
Hear my voice and get up, you're longing any dream  
I believe you, so fly up and reach for freedom!  
Remember...  
Anytime, any day, with you~ _

Suki's song drifted to it's last notes.

"That was wonderful!" Her manager applauded approvingly. "You can go take a ten minute break. Go call your boyfriend or whatever you want."

Suki smiled pranced out of the recording studio, digging in her designer purse for her phone. She quickly dialed the familar numbers, feeling nervous that for once she was calling Ikuto instead of Tadase.

*****

Ikuto tossed Amu a couple sheets of paper and a pen.

"See if there's any mistakes on that for me, will you?" He asked without looking up from what he was doing. Amu, curled up on the small couch in Ikuto's office, nodded and began reading it. She was aware of the fact that Ikuto had a big meeting coming up, and she wanted to everything she could to help.

Everything had been going so much better now that she had decided not to try to be a pain in the butt. Ikuto had gradually begun to stop being selfish and mean to Amu after a while, since he noticed her change in personality and didn't want to be outdone. Now, Amu kind of considered the two of them as friends.. in a weird, twisted way. The only problem she had was that Suki could make Ikuto smile like there was no tomorrow, and Amu couldn't.

_Wait Amu.. are you getting _jealous_?! You don't even like him like that! And you've still got Tadase remember._

Amu sighed, clearing her mind of those thoughts. Tadase. The only time the two ever even communicate on any sort of level was when Tadase said he needed to cancel their date. It was barely a relationship, considering Amu felt that she was beginning to feel closer with Ikuto rather than Tadase. But she banished all ideas of that to the back of her brain. Ikuto was still happily taken by Suki, and she still had Tadase.

The loud ringing of a phone interupted both Amu and Ikuto from their silent working. Ikuto reached across the table and picked it up.

"Ikuto?" The voice on the other end said innocently into the phone. Ikuto brightened.

"Suki!" He said happily. "You haven't called in a while! What happened?"

"Ikuto..." Suki said slowly. "I think that I'll be a little late tonight. There were some problems with the equipment in the recording studio... so I have to stay a bit later to finish everything we planned for today..."

Ikuto sighed at how guilty his girlfriend sounded.

"It's okay," He assured her. "I get it."

"Really?" Suki said in a slightly happier tone. "Thanks! I'll still come by today.. just a bit later than normaly! See you then!"

*****

Suki hung up the phone, smirking.

"Sucker," She muttered. Her phone rang again. Suki looked at it and saw that it was a number that she didn't recognize.

"Moshi Moshi?" She asked in a buisness-like tone.

"Oh my gosh!" A couple of girls screamed on the other end. "She picked up! _The _Tanaka Suki picked up!"

Suki raised an eyebrow.

"If you don't tell me who you are," She warned. "I'm hanging up."

"Wait wait!" One of the girls yelped. "Don't hang up! We work at Easter!"

"How'd you get my number?" Suki asked. She grinned when she heard the girls on the other end hesitating, whispering 'should we tell her?' to each other.

"Um.. well..." They began. "We sort of stole Tsukiyomi-san's phone.. and copied down your number..."

Suki laughed.

"Okay okay," She said. "So why'd you call me?"

"Give me the phone," She heard one of the girls hiss. Suki heard the phone being passed around and a different girl grab it.

"I'm Yamabuki Saaya," That girl said. "And you might want to watch out for your boyfriend. He's getting really friendly with that Amu girl that's his secretary."

Suki raised an eyebrow.

"Okay..." She said, trying her best to sound interested. To be honest, she didn't care. She had Tadase. "So do you think you guys can help me get back at Amu?"

"Of course," Saaya responded quickly. "I've hated Amu since she was little. That little bitch knew that Tadase was always meant for _me.. _but then she comes over and takes him."

Suki laughed.

"So here's what I want you to do..." She said quietly.

*****

Amu looked up and noticed that Ikuto was beginning to fall asleep again. She crumpled up a piece of scrap paper and tossed lightly in his direction, hitting him right on the face. He sat upright instantly.

"What was that for?" He demanded. Amu glared playfully at him.

"Wake up, baka-fish," She said. "You can't keep falling asleep if you want to get all this stuff done.. even with me helping you. Besides, you're supposed to be sleeping at night, not in the middle of the day."

Ikuto shrugged, then grinned.

"Do you think I should trust you to go get coffee again?" He asked teasingly. Amu raised an eyebrow, and stood up.

"Yeah sure," She said sarcastically, walking out towards the coffee machine. "Go ahead and trust me not to flood the whole building with coffee, will you? God, I'm not always that bad. Get it in your head."

Ikuto chuckled softly as he watched the pinkette leave.

_She's so entertaining..._

*****

Amu turned on the coffee machine, humming softly to herself. All of a sudden, she heard quick footsteps coming up behind her. She turned around and saw a frazzled Saaya standing there.

"Saaya?" Amu asked, surprised. "I didn't know that you worked here too."

Saaya shrugged.

"I've worked here longer than you," She pointed out. "Anyways, could you come into the bathroom and help me for a moment? One of my friends is in there and she isn't feeling well. Maybe you could help us get her to a doctor or something."

Amu nodded and swiftly followed Saaya into the bathroom, all but forgetting about the coffee.

"So where is she?" Amu asked once they were in the bathroom. Saaya smiled.

"Right in here," She said sweetly before shoving Amu into a small supply closet in the bathroom, locking the door on her. Amu jumped up and fumbled for the doorknob in the pitch black closet. She tried opening it, but the door didn't budge.

"Don't try opening it," Saaya called. "It can only be locked from the outside."

Amu wildly looked around for a way to get out. The only opening was a small gap between the top of the door and the ceiling, a place that she couldn't reach.

"Why are you doing this?" She screamed. She heard Saaya laugh.

"Because the person that we practically worship told us to," She said, no trace of a joke in her voice. "And I'll always do whatever she says. Especially if it humiliates you, _Hinamori Amu. _I still haven't forgiven you for getting together with Tadase. He deserved better than you, like me for example."

Amu began to bang on the door.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She begged. "Tadase barely cares for me anymore anyways! He's cancelling on me a-all the time and everything!"

Saaya laughed.

"Like that'll get me to give up a chance to embarass you," She said sarcastically.

"Please," Amu whimpered.

"Hey," Saaya barked. "Someone hand me some of those buckets!"

Amu heard the giggling of some other female workers and heard some water sloshing around in it's container. She looked up and saw Saaya glaring at her through the opening ontop of the door, standing on a couple of empty buckets.

"This," Saaya sneered. "Is pay back."

Amu looked up and saw Saaya lifting a bucket over the opening, and felt the pressure of ice cold water pushing her down onto the ground.

"And don't think we're done yet," Saaya spat. "There's more where that came from.

*****

Ikuto frowned eyeing the door. The pink-haired airhead hasn't come bursting through the door with any spilled coffee yet, and it's been almost twenty mintues.

_What's taking Amu so long? Unless.. she messed up the coffee again?_

Smiling to himself, he got up and headed towards the small kitchen. To his surprise, Amu was no where to be seen. The coffee machine was still on, coffee running steadily out from the opening. Ikuto turned it off, looking for Amu. She wasn't there. Ikuto slowly walked around the whole floor looking for his little lost secretary, and couldn't help but feel a small spark of worry inside of him.

As he was walking by the bathrooms, he heard a loud shriek of shock. Ikuto burst through the door, ignoring the fact that it was a _girl's _bathroom, and couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing.

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**... Wow. I didn't plan to write this chapter. It just came into my head as I was eating breakfast this morning.. so I rushed to write it. And now, 6 hours I woke up, it's finally done! Though I think I rushed a bit in the ending.**

**REVIEW.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you Miki-Chann, Pikachuwolffox4, ChocolateStrawberyxXx ,Diabolical Kitsuora, Natusya801923, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, Kags21, Pop Dragon, ArtGrrrl-Sunna Bluecat, xAmuIkuto, xxxUtauloverxxx, snowrosex3, rushi luvs anime8D, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatasi, Pinkiie-Chan, XYNDiCATE, Kuro Neko-Chan, and Kohaku for reviewing!**

**And yes, that song Suki was singing last chapter is an actual song. It's in Korean.. but I tweaked the English translations so it would make sense XD The song's ''Promise U" by AnyBand. Link's on my page if anyone wants it.**

**Anyways thanks for the reviews. It's kind of funny how a chapter for this story always has more reviews than the chapter before it. I would say one more each time but this time it's two more.**

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Ikuto gaped at what was in front of him. There was Saaya, standing on two buckets stacked on top of each other, holding a third bucket over the opening at the top of the door of the supply closet. There was someone weakly screaming from the inside, and there were various other workers who's names Ikuto couldn't remember crowded around the sink filling up more buckets with water.

"Let me out!" The person inside, who's voice Ikuto immediately recognized as Amu's.

Ikuto didn't think about what happened next. He ran over to the closet and yanked open the door. A small wave of water flowed through, spreading out on the ground at his feet. Ikuto peered inside and saw Amu crouched on the tiled floor shivering, her tears blending in with her soaked body. She looked up in shock.

"I-Ikuto.." She choked. "W-What are you doing here...?"

Ikuto didn't answer. He grabbed Amu by the wrist and pulled her up, glaring at Saaya.

"What the hell was going on here?" He demanded. Saaya shrugged.

"This is what happens when you get too friendly with another girl when you already have a girlfriend," She reminded him simply. Ikuto narrowed his eyes at her.

"What I do isn't any of your business," He spat. "Anyways, you're fired."

Saaya paled, but Ikuto ignored her and quickly dragged a wet Amu out and back to his office.

****

Amu stared as Ikuto closed the door once both of them were inside his office again, neither of them saying anything. Amu's tears had dried up, but her clothes and hair still had a long way to go.

"You okay?" Ikuto asked, breaking the silence. He stared at Amu, concerned. She nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry," Amu whispered softly. Ikuto smiled at her gently.

"It fine," He assured her. "Most days here are really boring and monotonous anyways. Congratulate yourself for making one of them interesting for me."

Amu's lips curved at the edges a bit, but she still didn't look convinced.

All of a sudden, Suki came bursting in through the door. She feigned horror when she saw a soaked Amu sitting the couch in Ikuto's office.

"Amu!" Suki cried out in fake alarm. "What happened?"

"Something got spilled on her," Ikuto cut in. "Anyways, do you happen to have any spare clothes in your car that Amu could borrow?"

Suki plastered a smile on her face.

"Sure!" she said. "I'll go get them right now!"

She turned around and left. As soon as Ikuto and Amu were out of sight, Suki's grin turned into a disgusted frown.

"Talk about backfiring plans.." She muttered. "I have to watch my 'boyfriend' worry over her and now I have to give her _my clothes _too now?!"

Suki made sure to pick out the cheapest, most plain clothes she could find in her car, but even those were elaborately designed and quite fashionable looking. She shook her head.

_Note to self: Always keep a pair of cheap clothes made of really crappy material in the back of my car. Maybe dig something out of those places you donate your old disgusting clothes to poorer countries to?_

****

"Here!" Suki said cheerfully, tossing Amu the clothes. "But where are you going to go change? I bet that those bitches that did that to you are still in the bathroom..."

Ikuto's head snapped up.

"How' did you know that it happened in the bathroom?" He questioned curiously. "I don't remember telling you that."

Suki laughed nervously.

"Silly," She said, trying to make her voice sound like the usual carefree tone it was. "The only place with that much water in this building is the bathrooms, so it had to be in the bathroom!"

Ikuto shrugged, seeming to accept that as an answer. Suki sighed in relief, but saw Amu staring at her suspiciously from the corner of her eye. Ikuto stood up.

"I think I know where Amu could change," He said, motioning for the two girls to follow him out. Amu and Suki followed him across the building floor and in front of a small room in the corner.

"It's the janitor's closet," Ikuto explained. He opened the door and saw no one in there. "Amu, you can change in here."

Amu looked half terrified of going into the small room.

"C-closet?! But w-what if someone does.. what happened last time.. again?" She asked timidly.

"No one is going to," Ikuto said reassuringly. "I'll be standing out here the whole time to make sure that no one can."

Amu seemed slightly better. She took the clothes and headed into the closet, quietly closing the door behind her. Suki turned to look at Ikuto impatiently.

"We're keeping my parents waiting you know?" She told him. Ikuto shrugged.

"I didn't know that that would happen," He said, motioning at the closed door of the closet. "And you're sure about going to your parents?"

Suki raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me _you're _scared," She said disbelievingly. Ikuto shook his head. Suki smiled again.

"Good," She said cheerfully.

_Now let's hope I still remember how to fake cry..._

Amu emerged from inside the closet wearing Suki's low cut tank-top and shorts. Ikuto turned to Suki.

"_This _is the only set of extra clothes you had?" He asked. Suki nodded, smiling at Amu.

"It looks good on you," She lied. Amu smiled gratefully, totally oblivious to the falseness in her tone. The three of them walked back to Ikuto's office. Ikuto turned to look at the clock.

"Amu," He said. "You're not supposed to leave for another couple of hours, so I guess you could just hang around here and kill some time."

Amu nodded.

"But where are you going?" She asked. Ikuto looked at Suki.

"We have some..." Suki told her slowly. "Things we need to o."

Amu looked a bit confused, but didn't question them any further.

"Okay then!" She said. "Have fun!"

She sadly watched the happy couple walk away from her and leave.

_Ikuto's heart seems to be really happy when he's around Suki.. but how come my heart... _hurts.. _when I see those two when they're together...? I already have a boyfriend.. but it doesn't even feel like it... do I.. do I _like _Ikuto?_

Amu curled up on the couch, thinking, and slowly began to drift off to sleep.

*****

As Suki followed Ikuto out of the elevator, she heard her phone began to ring. She looked at Ikuto.

"Hold on a minute," She said. "I have to take this call."

Ikuto smiled and nodded understandingly. Suki walked a couple feet way and answered the phone.

"Tadase?" She said quietly.

"Why are you still with that guy?" Tadase demanded. "I'm tired of having to have to remember to text Amu every day to cancel on her. It gets so boring! How about you break up with Ikuto, then I'll break up with Amu. That simple."

Suki sighed.

"I told you already," She said. "All those gossip magazines know that I'm with Ikuto. They think it's fine since he's extremely rich and the son of the owner of Easter. How would it look like to everyone if I suddenly broke up with him and just went to some guy that most people don't even know?"

Tadase snorted.

"Yeah," He said sarcastically. "I'm a no one now."

Suki laughed softly.

"Anyways," She said. "I think I have a plan to break up with him without it looking weird. Well.. all break up looks weird.. so I guess I should say that this one won't look so _suspicious._ Happy?"

"Yup," Tadase said approvingly. Suki smiled and hung up the phone.

"Okay let's go," She said, walking back towards Ikuto.

"Who was that?" Ikuto asked. Suki grinned.

"It was nothing," She assured him. "Just the writers who wrote my song. Wanted to change a couple of words so I'm going to have to go back tomorrow and redo some parts."

Ikuto nodded.

"Let's go then," He said. Suki followed him out of the building.

***** some time later *****

Ikuto stomped back into his office, slamming the door angrily behind him. The sight of Amu laying on the couch, sighing softly in her sleep, made his pain dissappear just a bit. But sadly it wasn't enough.

He walked over to the couch and roughly shook Amu awake. She jumped up with a start, eyes wide.

"What?" She mumbled sleepily. Ikuto glared at her and pointed at the door.

"Get out," He said harshly. Amu flinched at the sound of his tone. It sounded like pain, anger, dissapointment, every negative feeling mixed into one depressing emotion.

_What happened? Did something go wrong with Suki?_

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**Review. Please? :O**

**reviews = my happy potion. :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you Miki-Chann, THE silVeR M0onLiGhTSHAdow, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, Snowrosex3, Animegirl67213, sylvanicara, ChocolateStrawberryxXx, AmuxIkutoFan, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, xxxUtauloverxxx, coollove, Aznpride3x3, rushi luvs anime8D, Pop Dragon, Daibloical Kitsuora, Pikachuwolffox4, Kags21, Dendra, j, Pinkiie-Chan, Kuro Neko-Chan, xAmuIkuto, and xhappily-randomx for reviewing.**

**Wow... this time I decided I'm not going to go complaining like a whining butt about the amount of reviews :O So many.. *drools at amount***

**For 'Love Lies', I got 1OO reviews by chapter 6. Since I only have 6 more reviews till a hundred and this is the sixth chapter, let's go for the same thing, kay? :D Because even though I don't reply to any reviews since I'm so lazy-assed, I appreciate every one of you guys's review.**

**... just up to this point is already over a hundred words :O I need to make my beginning author's notes a bit shorter T_T**

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Suki stepped out of the passenger side's car door. Ikuto got out of the driver's side.

"You're sure?" Ikuto asked again. Suki hesitated, but nodded slowly. Ikuto smiled at her, putting an arm around her waist and kissing the top of her head softly. The two of them silently walked into Suki's house, where her parents were waiting for them.

*****

Suki stood outside the room, waiting anxiously for Ikuto to finish talking to her father. Once they call her in, she was going to put her plan into action.

"Um.. Suki-san?" The maids voice from behind her interputed Suki's thoughts. "Your father would like to speak to you know."

Suki said a soft 'thank you' and slipped into the room. Her father and Ikuto smiled welcoming at her.

"Suki," Her father said welcomingly. "Take a seat here."

He motioned toward an empty spot on the couch next to him. Suki silently walked over and took sat where he indicated, keeping her face emotionless. Ikuto raised an eyebrow at Suki's blank face, but didn't say anything about it. Suki refused to look at him, keeping her gaze on the intricate design of the couch, hoping that she could make herself cry fast enough. Suki's dad turned back to Ikuto.

"Now Tsukiyomi-san," He began. "If you're going to marry my daughter, I will-"

"Stop it," Suki interupted him quietly, feeling the false tears leak from the corners of her eyes. "I realized lately... that you.. you might not be that special person. Maybe... we were never meant to be together forever. M-maybe it's not supposed to be this way. I.. I'm sorry..."

Suki's father stared at his daughter, horrified at what he was hearing.

"What are you saying?" He demanded. "You were the one that has been begging me for weeks to let you marry him. You were the one who told me you were so sure..."

Ikuto gazed at her, his expression hurt and confused. Suki refused to look at both of them, shifting her gaze from the couch to the carpet. Her hair fell in front of her face, covering her eyes, but everyone could clearly hear her sobs.

"I'm sorry," She cried. "I didn't realize it until.. it was too late.."

Her dad stared at her.

"You decided all of this," He snapped. "You can't just decide that you don't want any of this all of a sudden! I was right, all that fame from your singing has gone to your head and now you believe that anything you want will be given to you! Well-"

"It's okay," Ikuto interupted their argument, his voice dead. "It's fine. I get it. I'll leave right away."

He stood up and quickly headed towards the exit.

"Ikuto..." Suki whispered as Ikuto walked by her. "I'm sorry.. that I had to tell you this way.."

All of a sudden, Ikuto felt a flare of anger spark inside of him. He shook his head and quickly left the large mansion, leaning back in the seat of his car.

_What did I do wrong? Tsukiyomi Ikuto, Amu was right. You are stupid, selfish, arrongant, buttheaded, baka fish. You obviously did something wrong so that Suki didn't love you anymore, and you didn't notice it. But then again... I didn't to anything out of the regular lately... being nice when she was here, letting her have her way all the time... What is the difference in my life from now and when I first met Suki?_

And then it hit him.

_Amu. Amu wasn't here when Suki was still happy with me. She's been really nice to everyone lately ,and I've been trying to return the favor by trying to be nice to that little pink-haired airhead. Maybe Suki saw that? Maybe she was.. jealous..?_

It comforted Ikuto slightly to know that in his mind, he could make this whole thing Amu's fault. He stepped on the gas pedal of his car and drove quickly back to the office.

***** Now skip back to the end of Chapter 5

Amu stared at Ikuto.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Ikuto glared at her.

"None of your business," He spat. "So out."

Amu frowned.

"Something's wrong." She said again, but in a firmer tone. Ikuto rolled his eyes.

"No," He said in a low, sarcastic tone. "Nothing's wrong."

"Why don't you tell me what it is?" Amu asked, trying a softer, gentler voice this time. "I might be able to help."

Ikuto felt a flicker of annoyance inside of him.

"_You _help?" He snapped. "You can't help. You were the one that caused all of this! Now get out of my sight before I decided to fire you."

Amu's eyes widened, filling with hurt.

"Fine then..." She whispered, heading out. She stopped right in front of the door.

"Ikuto..." She said softly. "I don't know what I did.. but I'm sorry for whatever it is."

Amu hurried out before Ikuto could yell at her anymore.

_Ikuto... I was only trying to help... what happened?_

*****

After a while, Ikuto felt his anger slowly begin to subside. He had watched a distressed-looking Amu stare blankly at a wall for the past hour, and he was beginning to think that maybe he had been a bit harsh on her. No matter how Ikuto looked at it in his mind, he knew perfectly well that in reality none of this was Amu's fault.

Ikuto saw Amu standing up and gathering her things to leave. He felt that he should go apologize for her.

"Hey Amu," Ikuto said, trying to keep the bleakness out of his voice as he leaned against the office doorway. Amu looked up, startled, her golden eyes filled with sadness. She didn't say anything. Ikuto took this as an oppurtunity to continue.

"I.. um," He began. "Just wanted to say that I'm.. sorry for yelling at you earlier. It really wasn't your fault that Suki and I.. broke up."

Amu's eyes widened slightly, but the unhappiness didn't leave her expression.

"Oh," She said indifferently. "So you and Suki broke up? Who was the one who started the break up?"

Ikuto hesitated. He wasn't used to telling people events this personal so soon after they occured.

"It was.. Suki," He told her. "Listen.. are you really that mad at me for yelling at you? Because I really am sorry. And I don't think I can deal with everyone mad at me right now."

Amu smiled at him.

"I'm not mad," She said softly. "I'm just... surprised. I wasn't expecting that."

But her eyes told otherwise. Ikuto frowned.

"If you say so," He said slowly. Amu smiled at him again.

"Well I should be going," She said. "I've got a date with Tadase-"

Her phone interupted what she was going to say. Amu pulled out her phone and sighed. another text from her missing-in-action boyfriend.

_From: Tadase Hotori  
Something came up. Have to cancel today.  
Sent August 5 2OO9_

Amu shoved the phone back into her pocket.

"Actually," She said with a grim smile. "I _don't _have a date with Tadase.. like usual. But I should still get going."

Ikuto eyed the phone curiously.

"Does that happen often?" He inquired. Amu's smile faded.

"Yes," She said flatly. "It does."

Ikuto nodded slowly in understanding.

_No offense to Amu or anything, but her boyfriend really sucks._

"It does kind of suck that I rarely do anything with him anymore," Amu said suddenly, as if she read Ikuto's thoughts. "But he was there for me all the time when we were little and I thought I could pay him back by staying by him when he's really busy."

Ikuto just realized that while he spent all this time talking with Amu, the excruciating pain from his break up had subsided into a dull numb. Now that Amu was leaving, the sadness was beginning to start up again.

"Well I'll be going now," Amu said. "Try not to think about it too much, and you'll get over it before you know it."

She turned on her heel and walked away from Ikuto. Ikuto nodded slowly.

_I'll try. I don't know how it's possible to forget everything, but I'll try._

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**:O REVIEW. Please?**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you Snowrosex3, Animegirl67213, NyammiToast, heaven, someone who likes your story, Kags21, Kuro Neko-Chan, Shugo Princess, Miki-Chann, some gal who saw this, Your Secret Admirer, Rio, xxxUtauloverxxx, AmuxIkutoFan, ChocolateStrawberryxXx, Kohaku, liledormouse, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, THE silVeR m0onLiGhTSHAdow, Diabolical Kitsuora, V-ball runner, XxDotheGIRdancexX, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Hakumei xo, MiyakoLikesTacos, Pop, Dragon, YO, and Natsuya801923 for reviewing!**

**I wanted 1OO reviews. I got 127 :) Arigato minna-san!**

**... and no thanks to all you people who put me on alert and not reviewing. Just kidding. I still love you guys :)**

**Also major thanks to a special friend (no FF account D:) who helped me write those couple of paragraphs about Ikuto's depressed mind. She's a really great writer and my English-class best buddy XD**

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_From: Tadase Hotori  
August 15, 5:37 PM  
Have to cancel-_

_-_message deleted-

Amu didn't even bother reading the texts anymore. They all said the same thing. Tadase's going to cancel on her. Her eyes wandered to the clock, and then to Ikuto's office. The blue-haired man was sitting in his chair, idly playing with the edge of a photograph and various other objects on his desk.

_5:45... isn't Ikuto supposed to be in a meeting right now? Or soon anyways. Maybe he forgot, I should go remind him..._

She stood up and walked over to her boss's office, softly knocking on the door.

"Whatever," Ikuto called out lifelessly. "Come in."

Amu slipped in through the doorway, frowning. Though Ikuto promised that he would get better, Amu hadn't noticed much improvement. If anything, he had gotten worse.

"Ikuto," she reminded him. "You have a meeting to go to, remember?"

Ikuto shrugged.

"Don't really care," He said indifferently, giving his chair another spin. Amu stomped so that she was standing by the chair. She snatched the picture out of Ikuto's grasp and sure enough, it was a picture of Ikuto and Suki when they were still together. Amu sighed.

"Ikuto," she said in a pained voice. "Why are you doing this to yourself? You don't care about anything anymore!"

Ikuto raised an eyebrow, the look in his eyes dead. Not that Amu noticed anymore, he's been looking more and more like this since the day he and Suki broke up.

"I'm just doing what you said," Ikuto told her. "That day, you told me to stop caring and forget everything and then sooner or later I'll get over all of this. I'm just doing what you said."

Amu slammed the photo onto the table.

"I told you," she said in a low, quiet voice. "To stop caring about _Suki. _Not to stop caring about anything _but Suki."_

Ikuto shrugged again, completely uncaring.

"Ikuto..." Amu pleaded. "Don't you see what's happening. You stopped caring, literally. Every part of the company that you've been put in control of has gone downhill. I'm surprised that you haven't been fired yet!"

Ikuto stared at her.

"Why do you care so much?" He asked boredly. "It doesn't matter what happens to this stupid place. I'll make sure you get paid either way. And they can't fire me. I have my reasons."

Amu frowned.

"I care," She told him. "Because you're not. Someone has to. And do you know how worried you make me when you act like this? It's not healthy for you! And didn't you promise me that you would at least _try_ to get over all of this!"

Ikuto looked at her straight in the eye, and for the first time, Amu saw all the pain and sadness inside of him.

"I miss her you know," He said quietly. "Thanks for trying and everything, but I don't think I can forget her. Not this soon at least."

Amu noticed the anguish in his voice. It was so strong Amu could almost feel it herself.

"You know what?" She said, trying to keep her voice encouraging. "Just forget about the meeting. How about you just go home and take it easy for the rest of today? You need it."

Ikuto kept his face blank.

"Yeah. Sure whatever," He said flatly, standing up and heading out. Amu followed him out, since it was time for her to go too anyways.

*****

**The Next Day:**

Amu walked to work, softly humming to herself. She tried to ignore all the magazine displays outside almost every store, all of their headlines stating something about the recent break up of Suki and Ikuto.

She found it unfair that all of them had something along the lines of "Poor Suki-chan!" and "How Could Tsukiyomi Do Something Like this?".

"Did it ever occur to them that this was all Suki's fault?" She muttered under her breath as she pushed the door to Easter open.

"Excuse me," A voice said as Amu walked towards the elevator. "You're Hinamori Amu-san, the secretary of Tsukiyomi Ikuto-san, am I right?"

Amu turned around saw the lady at the front desk staring right at her. The pinkette walked over to her.

"Yes I am," She said slowly, confused. "Why?"

The woman smiled, but in a polite way, at her.

"Miss you don't have to be here today," She told Amu. "Tsukiyomi-san isn't able to make it today, and he dropped by earlier today and told me to let you know that you can just take the day off."

Amu was surprised.

"Ikuto's... not here today..?" She asked. "Do you have any idea why?"

The woman looked both ways before leaning in towards Amu.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this," She said in a low voice. "But from what I know, Tsukiyomi was sent to go talk to the CEO of Easter today. Heard that the poor guy's going to get a yelling for totally slacking off lately. It's about time. I mean, just because he's _related _to the CEO doesn't mean he can sit around every day and do nothing!'

Amu gasped.

"He's... he's related to the CEO?" She asked in shock. The other woman's eyes widened.

"You didn't know?" She asked disbelievingly. "He's the CEO's _son. _Why do you think he hasn't been fired yet?"

Amu frowned.

"Well now I know," She said, smiling politely. "And I think I'll just sit around here today. After all, I get paid for how long I'm in the building, so might as well take advantage of a day I get paid for having nothing to do."

"Very smart," The woman said approvingly.

Amu waved her goodbyes and rode up the elevator, preparing for a whole day of just sitting around and getting paid for doing nothing. But deep in the back of her head, she was worried about what was going to happen to Ikuto.

_I really hope he's going to be okay..._

*****

Ikuto leaned against a tree in the city's park, sheltering himself from the rain. He didn't care that everyone told him that it's wrong to stand under a tree during a thunder storm. He didn't care that he was probably going to get sick from staying out in the cold. In fact, he didn't even care that he just spent a whole day of his life getting yelled at by his dad about how he was a failure in life and would never succeed since he let something so supposedly simple ruin his life.. He didn't care about anything anymore.

He tilted his head back, resting it on the rough trunk of the tree and letting all the memories he had of the place flow through his mind. This was his special place, the place where he and Suki met. Under this very tree, in fact, that was off to the edge of the outdoor stage (think of the stage as the one in episode 49 where Amu sang with Ikuto's violin).

Ikuto remembered that day clearly. He had been standing behind the tree, hidden as he watched Suki sing in her first outdoor performance. Back then he had thought that he felt something special, like Suki was that perfect person. That he had loved everything about the petite singer.

But all those wonderful hopes soon turned into fading memories. And yet as much as they faded away, Ikuto couldn't forget. He couldn't stop thinking about her. The way she smiled at him every day. How she made him laugh when he felt down. The warm hugs when the two of them were cold. He remembered how they used to be. How complete and whole he felt when they were together. He couldn't stop thinking about her, and she probably knew it.

Ikuto sighed and took a step out from under the cold shelter of the tree, allowing the rain to soak him. He closed his eyes as he walked across the stage, reliving that entire day when he met Suki in his mind, pressing the 'replay' button over and over again.

However, the stage was a lot smaller in reality than it was in his head. Ikuto soon walked off the edge of the platform, tripping and falling down the long set of stairs.

He winced as he felt his body slam onto the hard ground at the foot of the steps, a sharp flashing pain mixing in with the cold feeling from the rain. Ikuto tried to use his arms to push himself up, but felt too weak and gasped in pain as he felt his leg fall limp onto the hard concrete.

_Well this is a wonderful way to die. I'm on the ground, it's raining, my leg feels like crap along with the rest of my body, and I'm slowly freezing to death._

Ikuto felt the rain pelting him and begun to loose conciousness because of the cold. He closed his eyes, hoping that if this was the end, it would at least come painlessly.

*****

Amu took another twirl in the chair in Ikuto's office, feet propped up on her boss's desk as she watched the pouring rain outside. She had quite a bit of time before she was to leave, but she felt like she couldn't take the boredom any longer. She had done everything from helping the other workers with odd job sto cleaning the whole of Ikuto's office. There was nothing left in the whole building for her to do.

She jumped up and headed out, no longer caring about just sitting around for the pay. She couldn't sit here for another minute, and decided to just go home.

Amu covered her head with her hood as she walked through the rain, all the while worrying about Ikuto. The rain begun to pour harder, blurring Amu's vision. She decided that she would just take a shortcut through the park instead of walking through all the busy streets of the city.

The pink-haired person swiftly walked on the empty paths, wonder how the rain seemed to be calming here instead of the disturbance it was in the busier areas of town. Here, the rain made everything look like it was in place. Trees swaying back and forth. Grass drooping downwards from the weight of the rain drops. Unconcious hobo sleeping next to the stage.

_Wait.. what?!_

Amu ran over to the person, wondering if the person was okay. After all, no sane person would just fall asleep outdoors when it was raining buckets.

"Um.. sir?" She asked tentatively as she crouched down next to the man. "Are you alright?"

She got no response from the body. Amu rolled him over so that she could see his face, and felt horror wash over her face as she clearly recognized the face.

"I-Ikuto!?" She gasped.

* * *

**Dun dun dun :) Review please. Chapters after this one will come out a bit slower than before since I have to take these summer classes for the next two weeks. Then after that I'm going to go on a vacation with my family (with my laptop + internet connection of course), but I won't have much time to write during then.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you Pikachuwolffox4, THE silVeR M0onLiGhTSHAdow, AmuxIkutoFan, Hakumei xo, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, stukinmyskin, Kaggie101, xhappily-randomx, Kags21, Miki-chann, liledormouse, Kuro Neko-chan, ShugoPrincess, Aznpride3x3, xxxUtauloverxxx, kyyah, rushi luvs anime8D, Pop Dragon, Ikutoluver995, Animegirl67213, Your Secret Admirer, Pearl Phemus, sylvanicara, Diabolical Katsuora, and Natsuya801923 for reviewing!**

**... well it's a new record. I responded to two reviews XD. In the same day too. Normally I don't respond to any.. but I couldn't resist this time o_o Felt a great need to send a couple of extremely retarded responses :3 And who is this 'Your Secret Admirer' person? I mean, if you had an account, I would've totally respond to you too ages ago, but your anonymous so I have no way of doing so ._.**

**And I'm wondering.. is anyone else participating in the youtube blackout today? I already know a bunch of people who am, but I just want to see if there's anymore since I really don't like the new changes youtube is coming up with. So far.. I don't think I'm doing well D: Been so tempted to check youtube since I got home today.**

* * *

Amu roughly shook Ikuto.

"Ikuto!" She cried out over and over again. "Wake up!"

No response. She looked around wildly, hoping to find something that could help. There was no way she could carry him anywhere by herself. Unless he was at least half awake to cooperate anyways.

All of a sudden, there was a clap of thunder, causing Amu to jump forward slightly and her lips lightly brush Ikuto's forehead. Ikuto's eyes shot open, but only for a short moment. The next thing Amu knew, his eyes were almost closed again, as if he was struggling to keep them open as he stared at her.

"Amu.." He mumbled faintly, his voice barely coming out as a cracked whisper.

"Ikuto what happened?" Amu demanded worriedly. Ikuto blinked at her.

"It's cold," He whispered. "So cold..."

Amu instinctly wrapped an arm around his shoulders and attempted to help him up. Ikuto winced.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Amu asked gently. Ikuto nodded.

"Where?"

"Everywhere," Ikuto complained softly. Amu smiled kindly at him.

"Lean on me," She instructed. "I'll get you somewhere.. uh.. nice and warm! Yeah..."

Ikuto did as she said, too exhausted and in too much pain to argue.

... and he didn't bother to mention to his secretary that he felt instantly warmed up the moment his head hit her shoulders.

*****

Amu dragged Ikuto into her small apartment room, thankful for the first time that her room was on the first floor. She slowly walked, stumbling every now and then because of Ikuto's weight, to her bed and threw him on top of it, panting for breath.

_He looks so skinny.. and feel so fat. Go figure._

She took a step back to look at him. Ikuto sneezed and coughed weakly a couple times before falling still again. Amu frowned.

_He's probably sick or something from staying out in the cold.. god knows how long he was out there._

She closed her eyes and tried to remember what to do if someone was sick. First things first, Ikuto was cold. No doubt about that. And it was most likely because the clothes he were wearing were soaked.

_Okay... first thing I should probably do is get that stuff off of him and get him some dry clothes._

Amu frowned at the thought of taking off Ikuto's clothes, but figured that she had to if she didn't want him to freeze to death.

She gingerly took the top button between her fingers and twisted it. Ikuto shivered slightly as she pushed the button out of it's loop. She unbuttoned the next one, and the next, all the way down to the last button.

The front of the shirt fell slightly way from Ikuto, revealing his hard, toned, abs. Amu flushed a deep red and gaped slightly at the sight before quickly stuffing the shirt back in front of Ikuto's torso, covering all of it. This was not going to work. Maybe she could get someone else to do it for her?

Amu walked to the phone and picked it up, dialing Tadase's number. Her boyfriend picked up after the first couple of rings.

"Hello?" Said the other line.

"Tadase?" Amu asked softly, hoping the noise wouldn't wake Ikuto. "Um.. I need your help. You see I-"

"Eh?" Tadase asked in a slightly dazed tone. "Sorry Amu-chan. I would help you, but I'm busy right now. Really busy."

Amu was taken aback. She heard a loud, tinkling laugh on the other end. It sounded so familiar.. It took her a couple of seconds to realize who's laugh that was. The same one she heard almost everyday at work before Ikuto broke up with Suki.

"Tadase?" Amu asked again. "Is that.._Suki's _voice?!"

Amu heard a gasp.

"Who? The singer? Um yeah.." Tadase said quickly. "I'm listening to one of her... uh.. interviews right now! Yeah..."

Amu frowned, not quite believing him.

"Well-"

"Look," Tadase interupted her again. "I'm busy right now. I'll call you later okay? Love you bye."

He hung up the phone before Amu could say another word. Amu's frown grew deeper, but she didn't try to call back.

*****

Tadase hung up the phone, sighing in relief.

"That was a close one," Suki said, not looking up from the magazine she was reading while curled up on Tadase's bed. Tadase rolled his eyes at her.

"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't burst out laughing all of a sudden," He said, walking back over and wrapping an arm around the singer's waist. "What was that for anyways?"

Suki shrugged.

"It's funny," She said. "You've been nagging me to break up with Ikuto since forever, and I've finally done it. And yet you still go on every day lying to Amu. When are you going to break up with her anyways?"

"I've got a plan," Tadase assured her. "But it'll take a little while."

Suki nodded, resting her head on Tadase's shoulder.

"Just make it happen as fast as you can," She muttered.

*****

Amu sighed, trying to remember if she knew any other male's phone number. Kukai was out with some girl by the name of Utau, Kairi had just gotten on a plane to go back to his hometown, Nagihiko was busy practicing dance, and Tadase was well... busy doing whatever Tadases do..

She sat on the bed next to Ikuto, her mind frantically thinking about who else she could call. Ikuto rolled over in his sleep, his head landing in the pinkette's lap. Amu didn't notice, too lost in her thoughts, and began absentmindedly stroking Ikuto's midnight blue hair. She sighed again. Guess she'll just have to do it herself.

Once again, Amu slowly pulled Ikuto's shirt off of him. She quickly found an old shirt of her dad's that was long forgotten in her apartment and quickly tried to stuffed it on him. However, just as she was about to place the shirt over Ikuto's head, she heard a small, dry sneeze. Amu's eyes snapped back to look at Ikuto's face, where she saw him blinking sleepily as he observed his surroundings.

He suddenly broke into a fit of coughs. Amu felt a surge of pity as she made a move to help him.

_Poor him.. he's probably really sick..._

Ikuto soon recovered from his coughs, although his breaths were still coming out loud and heavy. His eyes soon found Amu, standing at the corner of the bed with his shirt clutched tightly in her small hands. His gaze trailed back down to his bare chest. Ikuto returned his focus back at Amu, glaring weakly at her.

"What," He panted hoarsely. "The hell is going on here?"

* * *

**Eh.. I actually planned to make this longer, but I swear to god it's too hot to do anything right now so I'm cutting it off here. I think now I'm going to go get some ice from the fridge, dump it on my head, and just hope the heat goes away. It's always so freaking hot in California D: Why here all the time?**

**Don't forget to review.**


	9. Chapter 9

** Thank you Miki-Chann, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Ikutoluver995, sylvanicara, emteex, Kags21, Diabolical Katsuora, xxxUtauloverxxx, Pop Dragon, stukinmyskin, NyammiToast, BloodyxRose17, PhoneixTears023, mikohoshina, Kuro Neko-Chan, Animegirl67213, ShugoPrincess, Snowrosex3, AmuxIkutoFan, Ladot, BlackCat, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Kaggie101, ichiruki12741, and xhappily-randomx for reviewing!**

**Hm... how about 2OO reviews by the end of this chapter? It's only 19 more.**

**... and for those of you who have ever actually visited my site (I doubt any of you have though o_o), I changed sites :) iSnowX3(dot)webs(dot)com. The coding is still a little bit off here and there and some of the pages don't work yet... so deal with it since I was up until two in the morning yesterday trying to finish it ._. And yet it's still not done.**

* * *

"Um.. w-well.." Amu stuttered. Ikuto's glare grew deeper.

"Well?" He snapped. Amu sighed.

"I found you," She said. "You were out cold in the park.. and I didn't know where to take you.. s-so I just took you to my house since that was closest. And then all your clothes were wet.. and I thought you might be sick or something.. so I tried changing your clothes... and that didn't work."

To Amu's surprise, Ikuto didn't yell at her. He just lay on her bed, staring at her uncaringly.

"And here I thought," He said. "That you were trying to rape me or something."

Amu blushed.

"L-like I would ever want to r-rape y-y-YOU!" She stammered, surprised at his assumption and thinking that was joking. Ikuto ignored her and watched her emotionlessly. Amu's screams soon faded away as she realized that Ikuto was dead serious, and soon the two of them were just staring at each other, silence falling awkwardly between them.

"Ikuto..." Amu began again softly, her eyes starting to brim with worry. "Staying out there.. in the rain.. You got sick. You're also hurt; I think you might've twisted your leg or something. You have to change out of those wet clothes and into someting dry." She hesitated. "If you're really that against me changing you, do it yourself. I don't want to argue with you right now."

She tossed him the clothes she had gotten for him.

"Just.." She continued, taking a deep breath. "Focus on getting better. You probably don't want me around while you're.. changing.. so I'll wait outside. I'll be back in about five minutes."

Amu turned around and headed for the door.

"Why?" A voice behind her called out. She turned around and saw Ikuto staring at her, still with the same dead look but this time with a spark of.. interest..?

"Why what?" Amu asked, confused.

"Why are you doing all this?" Ikuto asked. "Why are you letting me stay at your house, on your _bed_ for that matter? No one said you have to.. and no one's making you..."

Amu smiled at him.

"Who said it was against the law to worry about someone?" She asked dryly before disappearing out of the room, closing the door with a 'click' behind her. For a few moments, Ikuto lay on the pinkette's bed, contemplating on what she said.

_"Who said it's against the law to worry about someone?" She said it like it was a normal thing.. like she'd pick up any unconcious person she saw on the street and bring them home with her. If she worries about people like it was usual.. then.. why is this the first time that someone was actually woried for me...?_

**Two Days Later**

Ikuto was awoken by the feeling of something cold and wet against his forehead. He blinked sleepy, completely aware of the throbbing in his head, and saw Amu. She hovered over him, eyes anxious, pressing a cold towel onto his forehead.

"Amu?" He asked, surprised at how scratchy and raw his voice sounded from sleep. "What... what's going on?"

Amu sighed in relief. Now a small, yet still worried, smile adorned her cute face.

(A/N. Grammar Nazi's don't read the next quotation. No periods used at all and an overuse of the word 'and'.)

"You started talking in your sleep," She said. "And you had this horrible fever and you looked like you were in a lot of pain and then I remembered that when I was little I used to get sick and my mom would always try doing what I was doing now and that as putting that wet towel on your head and I did that beacuse it supposedly helps your fever go down and everything and then when I started trying that your fever actually went down but not by a lot but still it was helping somewhat so I kept changing the towel every now and then to make sure it was still wet and cold and then..."

Ikuto winced as he listened to Amu's nervous babbling. It hurt his already hurting head even more.

"Amu," He said in a slightly stronger voice. Amu immediately stopped talking and looked at Ikuto.

"Oh, um," She said in a concerned tone. "Did you need something?"

Ikuto glared at her and nodded.

"Yes," He told her. "I need you to _shut up._ Your non-stop talking is giving me a headache!"

Amu flinched.

_What is with him?! Has it occured to him that I _saved his life_!? Dear God, talk about ungrateful..._

She looked at Ikuto and sighed, pity beginning to flicker inside her.

_Amu.. he's sick remember? A he has a headache, too. Last time I checked, you're not exactly in your best mood either when you've got a headache. Just give Ikuto a few days. Maybe by then he'll have recovered and stop acting like this._

Amu returned her attention back to Ikuto, taking a deep breath.

"So is there anything else you need?" She asked. Ikuto shrugged. "Well is there anything you _want_?"

There was a spark of sadness in her boss's eyes before they turned back to their dull, uncaring shade.

"Nothing in particular," He answered nonlachantly. "What I really want is something that you can't get me. No one can."

Amu decided not to press any further into that topic, seeing the reaction she got from him when she asked.

"Well then what's your favorite food?" She decided to ask instead. Ikuto hesitated for the shortest moment, as if he was deciding between a varying list of foods in his mind.

"Taiyaki," He said. "Chocolate flavored."

Amu frowned.

"Dang," She said. "I just finished the last of the taiyaki I had a couple days ago... how about I go out and buy some more? There's a stand that sells really good taiyaki just across the street, so I'll be back in about five minutes. Think you'll be okay for that long?"

Ikuto shrugged and nodded silently. Amu raised an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," She said, picking up her jacket and purse before heading out the door. Ikuto stared at her retreating figure until she disappeared behind the closed front door of her small apartment.

_Thanks..._

*****

Amu crossed the street and stood in front of the small taiyaki stand, surprised at how long the line was. Shrugging, she took her place at the back of the line. Better get a place before the line got even longer.

"Oh so you want chocolate flavored right?" A famliar voice said behind her. Amu whipped around and saw Tadase, standing in line behind her and trying to calm down a woman he was on the phone with.

"Okay okay," Tadase said again. "I'm in line getting your stpuid taiyaki. Just hold on a couple more minutes. The line's so long!"

He hung up the phone, despite the person still shrieking on the other end.

_Women.. but still she's Suki. Suki is Suki. And Suki's a famous singer. And famous singers throw tantrums often. You chose her, so you're stuck with it._

"Tadase.." Amu said slowly, contemplating how strange the name coming from her mouth for the first time in a while. Tadase jumped, startled from his thoughts, but calmed down once he saw that it was Amu.

"Amu!" He said, laughing nervously and putting an arm around her. "Hi! Long time no see!"

Amu genuinely smiled.

"Same," She agreed. "So what are you doing here? I thought you were really busy.. and who was that lady you were on the phone with?"

"That was my boss," He lied smootly. Amu raised an eyebrow.

"I thought your boss was a guy?" She said.

"Exactly," Tadase replied. "That's why I've been so busy lately. My boss got.. um.. laid off and they just replaced him.. and I was supposed to help the new boss by showing her around.. and stuff. Anyways, she sent me here to get the taiyaki.. since us and the rest of the group we're working with is having a meeting... and some of us got hungry."

Amu nodded in understanding. She realized that now she was the first in line for the taiyaki, and rushed to hurry and buy a couple of choclate flavored ones.

"Tadase," Amu said apologetically. "I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. How about talk later then?"

Tadase nodded.

"Yeah," He said. "I'm still in a bit of a hurry too."

The two of them said their goodbyes and went their seperate ways.

*****

As Amu was walking back, she noticed a figure standing by the entrance of the apartment building. She got a closer look, and saw that it was Ikuto, standing out in the rain again, getting himself soaked.. again.

"Ikuto!" Amu called out, almost angrily. Ikuto lifted his head up and stared at Amu silently, his hair getting more and more soaked by the rain by the second. Seeing that she would get no response, Amu ran over to him and grabbed his arm, yanking him back inside the dry shelter of the apartment complex.

She continued to drag him along until the two of them reached her apartment. Amu pulled him into the living room and threw him onto the couch, ignoring the fact that the man she was dragging was still quite sick, and she probably shouldn't be treating a sick person like that.

"What is wrong with you?" She demanded. "You already got sick once from being out in the rain. Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

Ikuto glared at her.

"You don't get it, do you?" He said in a low, angry tone. "In the end I lost everything important to me. I don't have what it takes to keep a decent girlfriend or a job in a company."

Amu glared back.

"Well," She retorted. "Just because you've failed in love and career, that doesn't mean that you can't start over and stand up again!"

Ikuto jumped up from the couch, ignoring the rush he felt in his head. He was too angry to worry about that now.

"Don't joke around!" He shouted. "What is there left for me in my future now then, huh?!"

-Slap-

The next moment, Ikuto found himself on the ground, clutching his cheek where Amu slapped him. Hard.

"I can't believe you!" She said in a tone equally as loud as his. "You were doing so fine before any of this. You had a good future coming up for you. And now just because a girl breaks up with you you're going to throw it all away?"

Ikuto narrowed his eyes.

"There's no point anymore," He muttered. "No one cares about me or what I do anymore."

His words finally sunk into Amu.

_He won't do anything.. because.. he thinks that no one cares..._

Amu extended an arm to help Ikuto up. Ikuto stared at it tentatively for a moment, surprised by her sudden mood-change. In the end, he grabbed her hand and used it to pull himself up.

"Don't give up," Amu said encouragingly. "You may think that you're alone right now... b-but you're not. No matter how many times you fall, you've still got me. I'll always be here for you, to help you up every time."

Ikuto stared at her, shocked at her words.

"Wow..." He said, a bit stunned. "No one.. has ever told me that before... Thanks."

Amu smiled at him.

"I promise," Ikuto continued. "That I'm going to get my life back on track this time."

Amu's smile wavered.

"You said that last time too," She said softly. "But it never happened."

"But this time," Ikuto pointed out. "I've got you helping me."

Amu grinned.

"I'm glad to hear that," She said cheerfully. Amu suddenly remembered that she still had the taiyaki. She lightly tossed him the bag.

"Now eat this," She ordered. "If you don't, I wasted ten minutes of my life waiting in line for nothing."

Ikuto smiled slightly, the first real smile that Amu had seem in him for a while, and took a big bite of the small fish snack.

* * *

**I'm done.. at midnight o-o" wow. It looks so long word-wise, but so short content-wise. The ending and some of the beginning parts sound a bit rushed. Hm.. oh well whatever. Review anyways.**

**Just some random things you should know:**

**-the ending's going to be really surprising and unexpected. I'll be surprised if any of you figure it out before hand.  
-I started taking these summer Spanish classes, the main reason why my writing's been slower and a bit more rushed lately  
-my boyfriend and I broke up officially on O7.15.2OO9 officially. we got the idea in our heads about 3 days beforehand. no hard feelings between each other :) I guess we kind of just fell out of love or something.  
-REVIEW. NOW. I'm not even going to start on the next chapter until there's 2OO reviews.**

**Okay I'm done now. Have a nice life.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you Snowrosex3, TsukiyomiAlikutominnawatusi, Kuro neko-chan, Ren'aiXhakumei, Panda., Your Secret Admirer, yuuka-hanamaya, Pop Dragon, Aznpride3x3, Tsuki's Angel, ArtGrrl Sunna-Bluecat, xhapily-randomx, Ayumi, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, rushi luvs anime8D, Kags21, HarunaNiwa073, ichiruki12741, Pikachuwolffox4, stukinmyskin, Born2beAngel, Diabolical Kitsutora, Random-Bubble159, Kaggie101, EVIL SUGAR NAZI OVERLORD, tsukiyomi arisa, xxxUtauloverxxx, sylvanicara, and ^ . ^ CHU! 3 for reviewing!**

**This would've come out earlier... except my computer got a virus so I was out for two days without computer D: It sucked. I ended up watching the Spongebob Sponge Bash thing the whole time since there was nothing better to watch on T.V. Don't think I can do that again...**

**Anyways, thank you guys so much for 2OO+ reviews! They all really mean a lot to me, since, once again, I'm too lazy of a butthead to reply to most of them.  
... and also once again, no thanks to those who add me onto their alerts without reviewing and haters. I could do quite well without both of you guys.**

* * *

Amu smiled as she watched Ikuto walk a little ways in front of her; the two of them headed back to work. It had been a little over a week since Amu had led the arrogant man into her house and helped look after him while he was sick. Now Ikuto looked and felt better than ever, all thanks to his secretary's gentle care.

As the two of them walked by a jewelery store, something in the display window caught Amu's eye. She immediately ran back in front of the window, practically pressing her face to the glass as she stared at the object.

"Amu!" Ikuto, who was a couple feet ahead of her, called out. "Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"

Amu motioned for him to come over.

"Come on!" She said, as excited as a five year old who just saw some candy. Reluctantly, Ikuto made his way back to Amu in front of the window. Amu pointed at two of the items on a display.

They were two necklaces. One of them had a key hanging from it, the other a lock. Both were intricately desgined, as if custom made for a nonexistent person. Though the two of them were sold seperately, Ikuto could instantly tell that the two of them matched each other perfectly.

"Aren't they pretty!" Amu gushed. "Wait a couple of minutes. I'm going to go buy them."

She noticed a price tag dangling off of them. Her face fell instantly as she saw the prices. Only buying one of them could use up all her money, let alone buying both.

"Nevermind..." Amu said softly in a dejected tone. "Forget it."

She spun on her heel and slowly walked away. Ikuto didn't move for a couple of moments. He felt a stab of pity as he watched the small pinkette walking away.

_Her eyes.. had this special sparkle when she was looking at the necklaces. She must really want them._

His thoughts slowly trailed back to necklaces. Then something clicked in his head.

_Come to think of it... isn't her birthday coming up soon...? Maybe it wouldn't hurt if..._

Amu all of a sudden came running back, pulling on Ikuto's arm.

"Come on!" She said. "I thought you said I was taking too long. Look at you!"

Ikuto chuckled and followed Amu's quick pace.

*****

As the two of them raced each other up the stairs to the main entrance of Easter's building, they saw something that neither of them expected. Waiting at the top of the flight of stairs was a man. Amu didn't recognize him and just passed him off as a strange man standing there, but Ikuto instantly knew who he was. He stopped in his tracks, glaring at the man and shifting slightly to take a protective stance in front of Amu.

"What do you want?" He asked harshly. The man smirked at Ikuto.

"Ikuto," He said, sadly shaking his head in mock dissapointment. "That's no way to talk to your _father,_ is it?"

Ikuto's glare hardened.

"_Step_father," He corrected. "Anyways, you still didn't answer my question . _What do you want?_"

Amu stood close behind Ikuto, gaping at the conversation she was hearing.

_Stepad..?_

Ikuto's stepfather took a step forward. Ikuto instinctively took a step back, bumping into Amu and causing his stepfather to grin as he pulled something out of his pocket.

"I just came to let you know that you know that you left these in my office," He explained, dangling a set of keys in front of him. "Stupid boy, thinking you can forget the keys to your car and house in just any random place?"

Ikuto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's great," He said sarcastically, extending an arm forward to reach for the keys. "Now give them back."

His stepfather chuckled darkly.

"Wow," He said. "You're even more stupid than I thought. Have you already forgotten about our little conversation a few days back?"

Ikuto glared at him. His stepfather glared back. The two of them just stood there glaring at each other until Ikuto stopped with a resigned sigh.

"Fine," He muttered. His stepfather grinned.

"Good," He said approvingly. "I'll be back with the keys once I see some improvement."

With that, he passed by them as he walked down the stairs, eventually disappearing from both Amu and Ikuto's sight. Ikuto held his hateful glare until his stepfather was well away and after he had grabbed Amu's arm and dragged her into the building and up to Ikuto's office.

"I hate that man," He muttered, closing the door to his office. Amu raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" She asked. "And what was with that 'remember our convo' thing?"

Ikuto sighed again.

"I hate his existence," He explained, his voice full of hate. "And the conversation was from that day I told you to miss work. It pissed him off that I stopped working hard. He said that until everything I did improved, I wasn't allowed back in my house or in my car. Plus the fact that I forgot my keys in his office helped reinforce that. I hate how he has that kind of power over me. Makes me wish he would just drop dead now."

Amu thought for a moment.

"So that means..." She said slowly. "That you've got no where to stay for now?"

Ikuto nodded. Amu seemed slightly happier.

"Then you can stay at my house for a bit longer!" She exclaimed. Ikuto seemed a bit surprised.

"You would actually let me?" He asked. "I've already been a bother by staying there for a while now, haven't I?"

Amu shook her head vigorously.

"To be honest," She said quietly, ducking her head as she felt herself begin to blush slightly. "I sort of.. enjoyed the week that you were here. Tadase's never around, so I'm kind of lonely most of the time nowadays..."

Ikuto grinned.

"Glad to hear it," He said, trying to ignore the hidden meaning in what she said.

_The only reason she wants me around is because she can't have Tadase around._

*****

"Come on!" Suki whined, bouncing slightly as she sat on Tadase's bed. Tadase rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Seriously," He said. "You're starting to sound like one of those snobbish singers that are all over every magazine."

Suki frowned.

"But I _am _a snobbish singer!" She complained. "And you know that. When the freak are you going to break up with Amu!?"

Tadase sighed.

"Just wait, okay?" He asked. Suki pouted.

"Why?" She demanded. "I don't like waiting."

"Because," Tadase said in a pained tone, as if they've had this argument many times. "Whenever I see her, it's always in an awkward location so I can't just go 'I'm breaking up with you.' out of the blue can I? You had the perfect opportunity, I'm just waiting for mine."

Suki frowned, but didn't complain further.

"Just make it quick," She muttered, flopping backwards on the bed.

Tadase stood up and headed out of the room.

"Where are you going" Suki asked.

"To go get you and Amu birthday presents," Tadase called over his shoulder. Suki sighed.

"Yeah fine," She muttered. "Go ahead, ignore me for some ugly pink headed freak."

***** **night time :DD**

Amu stretched as she and Ikuto walked out of the building.

"So tired," She yawned. Ikuto chuckled softly at her.

"But I didn't make you go run outside and get anything today," He pointed out.

"Exactly," Amu said. "You made me sit there for hours reading all those stacks of papers ofyour stuff to check for mistakes and everything. I'd rather walk back and forth from across the street than sit in a chair reading. A chair that's so soft and comfortable... I probably fell asleep in it a couple times and you just didn't tell me."

Ikuto grinned and silently walked with Amu back to her apartment, pushing her gently every now and then when she seemed to have fallen asleep in her tracks.

As soon as the two of them entered the small partment room, Amu quickly walked to the couch, falling on it in a half laying down / half sitting position.

"Help yourself to the fridge," She mumbled sleepily. "Too tired to eat..."

Amu's eyes suddenly fluttered closed and her arm fell limply at her side. Ikuto held a breath to keep himself from laughing. It took Amu what... a matter of seconds?.. to fall asleep. He walked over to the sleeping girl and carefully picked up her legs, placing them on the couch so half her body wasn't dangling off the edge.

Ikuto remembered the events of that morning. He took one last glance at Amu, her breaths coming out in soft sighs as she stayed sound asleep.

_She's asleep.. and doesn't look like she's going to wake up for a while... maybe now I can go get her her present..._

He wasted no time in running out of the apartment and all the way back to the jewelery store. There was no one else in the shop, and the worker seemed to be a bit surprised that someone would suddenly come running in.

"Can.. I help you?" He asked. Ikuto nodded.

"The lock and key in the window," He motioned toward the display. "I'd like to buy both of them."

The worker shook his head apologetically.

"Someone just bought the key," He said. "But if you like, you can still buy the lock."

Ikuto sighed, but nodded again. It was better than nothing. The worker smiled and walked over to the display to take out the necklace.

"For your girlfriend?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Ikuto said. It wouldn't hurt anyone if he told a small lie like that.. wouldn't it? The man smiled again.

"Well since it's for someone special," He said. "I'll give you a discount on it. Plus I'll wrap it and put it in a box for you. That sound good?"

Ikuto grinned.

"Thanks," He said gratefully.

After paying for the necklace, Ikuto placed the box carefully in his pocket and hurried back to Amu's apartment before his secretary could wake up.

... and little did he know that right before he entered the jewelery shop, a certain someone with blonde hair exited the same store, the key necklace tucked in his pocket.

**** **The day of Amu's birthday**

Amu swiveled in a chair boredly, crumpling various pieces of used paper she could find and entertaining herself by tossing them into the garbage. There was nothing to do today, almost as if Ikuto had avoided giving her any work to do today.

"Boo." A sudden voice from right next to her ear startled her. Amu jumped up, and saw that Ikuto was standing behind her, smirking.

"Idiot!" She screamed. "You scared the crap out of me!"

Ikuto chuckled slightly.

"So I'm guessing you don't wan't your birthday present?" He asked teasingly. Amu's face immediately brightened.

"You got me something?" She asked disbelievingly. Ikuto snorted.

"Remember?" He reminded her. "You went through my computer stuff and read through my calendar? I was going to get you something anyways."

Amu smiled sheepishly. Ikuto pulled the box with the necklace inside it out from inside his pocket. He handed it to Amu.

"Happy birthday," He said. "I saw how much you wanted it... so I went to go get both necklaces for you, but someone already bought the key one. So I could only get you the lock one..."

Amu's eyes lit up.

"Thanks!" She practically squealed. "I love it!"

"Amu-chan," a voice from behind them said. Amu and Ikuto turned around and saw Tadase standing there, smiling kindly at Amu. Amu smiled some more.

"Tadase!" She said happily. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

Tadase grinned.

"Actually," He said apologetically. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, but I thought I'd stop by quickly and give you your present."

He handed her a box, almost identical to the one Ikuto gave Amu, except his had a different design on the edges.

"Happy birthday!" Tadase said cheerfully. Amu opened the box and gasped. She pulled the present out and picked up the necklace Ikuto gave her, dangling both of them in the air in front of her.

One was the necklace with the lock on it, and the other ewas the key.

* * *

**Care to review? :O**

**By the way, I need a new _Shugo Chara! _fanfic to read. I remember last time I went into the archives and subscribed to a whole bunch of stuff was spring break. Then I went in a couple of times last week and couldn't find anything that sounded interesting. You guys have anything to suggest?**

**Find one and I shall love you forever :DD**

**Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you Kaggie101, snowrosex3, EVIL SUGAR NAZI OVERLORD, strawberry-kiwi-kisses, Pop Dragon, xxxUtauloverxxx, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, ichiruki12741, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, liledormouse, Neji0932, Ikutoluver995, Kags21, Kuro Neko-Chan, Naomi, sylvanicara, Natsuya801923, TheQueenOfMe, rushi luvs anime8D, Diabolical Kitsutora, AquarianParadox, Ren'aiXhakumei, and tsukiyomi arisa for reviewing!**

**Also thanks to everyone who suggested stories for me to read. Shockingly... it's been less than a day and I've finished reading **_**every single one of them.**_** God I was so tired last night afterwards. My eyes hurt from reading countless numbers of pages of writing... but it was worth it. Loved most of them and cried during every almost tragic moment in the stories. Damn me and my sensitive-ness to Ikuto and Amu's sad moments in life D:**

**And for those of you who haven't watched BoA's new music video for ****_Energetic,_ go watch it. NOW. Or I shall bite your head off D: That girl is a pro dancer.. and she's short too XDD I just realized that I'm taller than her, and I'm short... 5"2 lol ._. But I don't like her new hair though D: Don't think I'll ever get used to half her bangs being gone..**

**... okay enough of me and my rantings. On with the chapter! XD**

* * *

Amu blinked a couple times at the two necklaces dangling from the tips of her fingers, her thoughts swirling together. Tadase laughed nervously, breaking the silence.

"Neh.. Amu-chan," He said gently. "So do you like the present I got you?"

"How about mine?" Ikuto cut in, glaring at Tadase while still trying to keep his voice sounding like the only thing on his mind was whether Amu liked the necklace or not.

Amu didn't say anything. Suddenly she threw her arms around both of their necks, pulling both Ikuto and Tadase closer to her.

"I love them both," She said cheerfully. "To be honest, I was actually surprised I got both of them. I saw them in a store the other day and wanted both so badly. Then when Ikuto got me one I told myself I should be thankful that I was getting one at all. Then Tadase comes in with the second one. So now I'm happy."

Ikuto smiled.

_She's happy and I get a hug... but it's too bad I have to share that with her boyfriend._

After being content with her hug, Amu released her arms around from both of them. Ikuto tried not to let it bother him that Tadase inched a bit closer to Amu and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Tadase suddenly leaned over and give Amu a quick, chaste kiss.

"I should get going," He said. "See you around then."

Amu frowned slightly, disappointed that he was leaving so soon, and reluctantly let him leave.

Ikuto, on the other hand, had turned around and pretended to be doing something else, but had secretly been watching the couple from the corner of his eye. He felt a small feeling of disappointment growing inside of him as he saw how happy Amu looked with her boyfriend.

As soon as Tadase was gone, Amu's smile returned as she spun around to face Ikuto. Her smile faded, though, as she saw a bit of hurt in Ikuto's eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly. Ikuto didn't answer. He just stared at the ground, refusing to meet her gaze. Amu sighed in frustration and ducked under Ikuto's head so she can look at his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked again. This time Ikuto shrugged halfheartedly. Amu thought for a moment. Then she had a evil grin on her face.

"Is it because I gave Tadase a bigger hug than you?" She asked dryly. Ikuto raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah sure why not," He mumbled.

_The real reason why is because Amu looks so happy with him... but I guess her reason works too._

Amu didn't believe him, but decided that she should just leave it at that. If he didn't want to tell her then she shouldn't make him. She grinned again.

"Well then here's to make up for it," She said, wrapping her small arms around his waist. Ikuto was shocked for a moment, but a soft smile slowly grew on his face.

_This makes up for part of it... I guess. She's so warm..._

He began to lift up his arms and wrap them around Amu's small shoulders, slow enough so that the pinkette didn't notice anything. She was too into the hug to notice anything, anyways.

_He's so soft... and there's this.. tingly feeling inside me. Why don't I feel that when I'm hugging Tadase.. or kissing him for that matter...?_

*****

As Tadase walked down the stairs of Easter's towering building, he saw a familiar figure sitting on the last step, wating for him. Of course, the person was disguised with a pair of giant sunglasses and a hood covering her hair, but he could still recognize the person.

"Suki," He acknowledged. The person stood up and grinned.

"The one and only," She said proudly. "Now tell me everything. I want to know how she reacted. Were you really mean about it? Or did you try to be nice? _Tell me._"

Tadase shrugged.

"Well you see..." He said slowly. "I didn't break up with her yet..."

Suki frowned and gently slapped Tadase's arm.

"Honestly," She said in an annoyed tone. "When are you going to? Geez, you make it sound like you still love the girl..."

Tadase shook his head.

"It was Ikuto," He explained. "He was in there right when I showed up. I couldn't exactly break up with her with him around, can I?"

Suki sighed.

"Fine, fine," She said, shaking her head in shame. "One last chance. Do it on you guys's two year anniversary. That's not for a little less than a month from now, so you've got time to think about all the little insignifigant details if you want. If you don't do it by then, then you get a choice. Either she goes, or I go."

Tadase grimaced.

"Since when did you get to be so bitchy?" He mumbled (a/n. I'd like to point out now that I accidently typed 'She' instead of 'he'.. but changed it :DD)

Suki shrugged.

"Since when did you become one of those guys who held of on everything they were supposed to do?" She retorted snappishly. She wrapped her thin fingers around her wrist and dragged the two of them back to her limo.

"Now come on," She said. "There's a new song of mine that needs recording and it's not going to get done without me there, now is it?"

Tadase sighed and mouthed something unintelligible at the ground, but followed Suki.

*****

Amu laughed as another paper airplane hit her square in the head. She and Ikuto were sitting around in her boss' office, apparently fooling around rather than doing work.

Concentrating hard, she picked up a pile of paper, crumpling them into a giant ball and chucking it at Ikuto's face. Of course, due to bad aim and Ikuto's quick reflexes, the paper ball missed him by a mile.

The blue haired man smirked, picking up the wad of paper and observing it carefully. He laughed.

"This is the best you can do?" He joked. "I take the time, to fold the paper into an airplane before throwing it at you, and you just throw it at me after crupmling it."

Amu glared at him.

"Well _some _people can't fold airplanes that fast can they?" She muttered. Ikuto laughed and threw another one at her, hitting her on the center of her nose.

It was dead silent as Amu stared in shock at her cute little nose, and then both of them busted out laughing. They laughed so hard that both of them fell out of their chairs, landing with soft 'thud's on the ground.

Of course, Amu never would've thought that she would've landed in Ikutos stretched out arms. Amu turned her head to the side and saw herself face-to-face with a pair of midnight blue eyes. She couldn't blink, she couldn't look away. She was mesmerized in the eyes that mirrored the exact shock and unblinking expression as her.

All of a sudden, Ikuto leaned his head closer to Amu's face. Amu didn't notice that she herself had also been subconciously inching forwards, their noses now touching. Ikuto could feel her sweet strawberry blowing gently across his face, which made him slide his face even closer.

Soon they were close enough so that their lips brushed gently against each other's with every breath they took. Something inside Amu wanted to close the tiny, microscopic space between them.

Ikuto seemed to have the same thoughts as her. Just as he was about to lean in even closer, he heard the door slam open to his office. Ikuto unwilling tore his gaze from the small girl in his arms and to the open doorway. Amu did the same, and her eyes widened.

"I thought you were supposed to be working, Ikuto." A voice said dryly. Ikuto immediately recognized it.

"Shit..." He muttered, placing a surprised Amu onto the ground and standing up.

"Now what do you want?" Ikuto asked, clearly annoyed.

* * *

**Review... now?**

**Okay that didn't sound right.. how about:**

**REVIEW... _NOW._**

**Okay that sounds a bit better :DD More direct and demanding. So you heard it. _REVIEW._**

**Please? I even pointed out where the review button is for you morons who don't know... :)**

**It's right here (Ah yes, and while youre at it, observe my beautiful arrow. It's made completely out of letters XD)**

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	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you Kaggie101, Diabolical Kitsutora, liledormouse, xhappily-randomx, Neji0392, xxxUtauloverxxx, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, OnlyIkutos413, RandomlyBoredWolfy, Pop Dragon, Kags21, mikohoshina, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Tsuki's Angel, Animegirl67213, Tsukiyomi Arisa, HarunaNiwa073, 9996 characters, Helapayne, xRachellAnimeFreakx, Random-Bubbles159, Awww Darn, sylvanicara, Kuro Neko-Chan, Natsuya801923, Miki-Chann, and rushi luvs anime8D for reviewing!**

**Dang.. half of you guys guessed who it was already D: Am I really that predictable of a person?**

**Anyways you guys might be wondering why I'm updating so fast all of a sudden o_o Well it's because I'm going to be dissappearing off the face of the Earth for half of August (the first week and one of the last weeks). So I want to get as much as I can done by then.**

**And you guys wanted Amuto fluffiness o_o So this was the best I could put in without ruining the plot I had in mind.**

* * *

Amu blinked. Ikuto abruptly pulled her up, still glaring at the person in the doorway.

"I thought you said you weren't going to show up again in my life until I improved on my 'work'," He snapped. Amu finally recognized the person.

_Ikuto's dad..._

His father grimaced.

"Well apparently you have improved," He said, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket and tossing them in Ikuto's direction. Ikuto caught them, looking at his dad supsiciously.

"But it hasn't been that long yet," He said slowly. "Why you giving in so early?"

His father looked away.

"Well..." He muttered. "I went and stayed in your house for a bit, and there was this cat sitting in the kitchen. He kept meowing all the time and it was driving me nuts. So go into that house and make the cat shut up."

Ikuto smirked.

"Oh yeah huh..." He said sheepishly. "All this time staying at Amu's house I've been forgetting to feed Yoru..."

Amu gasped.

"You had a _cat _this whole time," She scolded. "And you haven't fed him _once_ the whole time you've been with me?!"

Ikuto grinned, but then something clicked inside his brain. His joking mood quickly faded.

"Wait," He said suddenly. "What the hell were you doing in _my _house?"

His father shrugged.

"None of your business," He replied simply. His gaze slowly trailed to Amu, who was sitting on the desk behind Ikuto, nimbly twirling a pen in between her thin fingers.

"So this is your new girlfriend?" He asked. Amu's head snapped up.

"N-No!" She stammered, blushing furiously. "I-It's nothing like t-that!"

Ikuto narrowed his eyes at his father.

"What's it to you?" He demanded. His dad shrugged.

"Oh nothing," He said casually. "I was just thinking of... _Suki. _You know, you're old girlfriend?" He smirked when he saw Ikuto's eyes tighten. "I mean, if this Amu girl is your new girlfriend, I don't like her. She's just so... _normal _and _unattractive _compared to Suki. You should honestly go look for a better looking girlfriend. I bet you could've done better..."

"Shut up." Ikuto interupted him harshly, casting an anxious glance in Amu's direction. From where he was standing he couldn't get a good look at her face; her hair had fallen in front of her eyes making her expression unreadable.

He remembered that his father was still here.

"Get out of here," Ikuto snapped, but the man was already disappearing out the door.

"And good riddance," He muttered. "Maybe I won't have to see him for another year or so."

Ikuto turned back to Amu, his expression immediately softening.

"He didn't mean that," He reassured her gently. "He doesn't know anything.. nothing he said was true."

Amu looked up suddenly, stopping Ikuto from his trails of rewording "That's not true." She smiled.

"I know," She joked. "You told me he was stupid. And stupid people's opinions don't matter, remember?" (A/N. meaning my opinions don't matter ... D:)

Despite her joking, Ikuto could still see the shock and a bit of hurt in her eyes. He looked around quickly, scrambling to find a way to cheer her up. His eyes landed on the clock. 1O:OO PM.

"Hey Amu," He said suddenly. "There's still two hours left before your birthday's over. How about I get you one last thing. Anything in the world. Your choice."

Amu thought for a moment, then instantly brightened.

"I want," She said excitedly. "To meet your cat."

Ikuto felt a sweatdrop forming on his head.

"You want to meet..." He said slowly. "... my cat. I give you chance for me to get you anything in the world that you want, and you pick.. meeting my cat."

Nodding, Amu's grin grew wider.

"Yeah!" She continued. "Besides, I still have to apologize to him for making you forget to feed him..."

Ikuto laughed.

"Is your head feeling okay?" He asked. "Do you feel a bit strange, maybe a bit mental...?"

Amu slapped him playfully, but her expression grew serious.

"The truth is," She whispered. "That's not the thing I want the most... you can't get me what I want the most."

Ikuto smirked.

"Try me," he challenged. Amu took a deep breath.

"I want," She said softly, a sad smile on her face. "Tadase to love me again. Earlier today, when you saw me talking with him. Well.. that was the first time we had a face-to-face conversation that lasted more than a minute for a while now. I miss how we used to spend every moment together and how we only focused on being with each other... but now everything's changed. He rarely spends time with me anymore..."

Ikuto sighed.

_See? I was right. That Tadase guy is definitely not good for her. I could probably do so much better than him. And Amu's so dense; she probably won't let me._

He smiled and picked up her small hand in his.

"Well," He said, trying to hide the hurting feeling knawing on his insides from his voice. "You want to go meet my cat or not?"

Amu began to slowly smile again and followed him out of the office building.

****

"Oh my god he's so cute!" Amu exclaimed. The moment Ikuto had unlocked the front door to his house, the small pinkette had burst in, wildly running around his rather large house in search of the cat.

Amu crouched down on her knees and gently began running her hands along it's back.

"Sorry," She said in an innocently adorable voice. "Sorry I made Ikuto stay at my house so he couldn't come home and feed you."

Ikuto laughed.

"For the love of god," He said. "Yoru's a _cat._"

Amu looked up and pouted at her boss.

"But he's a _cute_ cat!" She whined. Ikuto shook his head in disbelief, walking over and crouching down next to her on the ground. Amu looked up and glared at him jokingly.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded. "You were the one that let him starve here for who knows how long! Go get him something to eat!"

Ikuto sighed and got back up, heading towards his kitchen. Amu picked up Yoru, following right behind Ikuto.

"Neh, Ikuto," Amu said, scratching Yoru's ears. "You're house is... _big._"

Ikuto shook his head.

"Nope," He said. "Your apartment is just small."

Amu glared at him.

"Shut up," She said playfully. As Ikuto got Yoru's food, Amu wandered around in his kitchen, staring intently out the window. She was startled as she felt the cat being pulled out of her arms by Ikuto and placed on the ground next to a bowl of food.

"So what were you staring at?" Ikuto asked casually. Amu pointed out the window. Outside, there was a full moon in the middle of the black sky.

"The moon," She answered. "It's so perfect today. The moon's perfectly round, and from where we're standing you can barely see any of the craters. It's just like a perfect white circle in the sky. So pretty...."

Ikuto however, wasn't looking at the moon. In fact, he didn't think it was pretty at all, not with the pink haired girl next to him standing in comparison.

Amu finally turned around when she noticed Ikuto watching her.

"Why are you staring at?" She asked slowly. Ikuto snapped out of his thoughts.

"Nothing," He murmured, shifting his gaze to the ground. The two of them just stood there awkwardly until they heard Amu's cell phone ring. The pinkette pulled it out of her pocket, quickly scanning the screen of the phone. Her face brightened considerably.

"It's Tadase!" She exclaimed excitedly. "He wants me to go out with him next weekend!"

Ikuto felt his heart drop into his stomach, but plastered a smile on his face.

"That's great," He said, attempting to sound enthusiastic. Amu grinned and nodded.

"It is!" She went on. "This is the first time he hasn't postponed it till later for a long time now!"

Ikuto motioned to the clock.

"It's getting late," He said abruptly. "You should be getting home."

The truth was, he wouldn't have really minded if Amu stayed even later. He just wanted to get her bubbly feelings about Tadase as far away from his as possible.

Amu looked a bit confused, but nodded. She bent down and gave Yoru one last pat on the head before skipping happily out the door, talking to herself about how happy she was.

Ikuto watched her, a small feeling growing inside of him. One that he hasn't felt in a long while now.

_Is this... jealousy? Why do I feel it now when I haven't felt it since I was little... so long ago....?_

_

* * *

_

**Meh... I had no ideas on how to end it. So I just ended it like that :DD**

**Eh.. to be honest, I had this chapter done way earlier this morning. I just got dragged to the bookstore after I finished typing, so I had no time to upload it. Well while at the library I got a ton of new books to read. Hopefully they'll give me new ideas to word the next chapter better :D**

**Review :) Or must I point out where the review button is again?**

**It is right here.. NAO CLICK IT.**

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	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you Snowrosex3, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Neji0392, Himeka Tsukiyomi, Diabolica Kitsutora, Kaggie101, Ikutoluver995, Randon-Bubbles159, Chikane, Helapayne, xBlackCat, MaroonAngel of Darkness, OnlyIkutos413, Kags21, ichiruki12741, balloon peppermint, coollovesohot, 9996 characters, Animegirl67213, lildormouse, Forgot my name O o, mombo family, Miki-chann, rushi luvs anime8D, Ren'aiXHakumei, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, and sylvanicara for reviewing!**

**I want three hundred reviews by the end of this chapter. Not going to write the next chapter until I get them. It's not that hard right now D:**

**Hope I can get the rest of the story done by the end of next week (this upcoming Saturday).... going to be gone on Sunday (after that Saturday) all the way until the next Sunday. No electronics... oh god. Not even phones.. unless you can get signal on a giant mountain in the middle of nowhere. So just consider that I disappeared of the face of the Earth for that week :DD**

**Also.. cliche moments FTW :)**

**... This is my longest chapter yet. 28OO words. New record for me :)**

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Amu showed up at work extremely late one day looking particularly.. prettier.. than usual. Her pink shoulder-lenghted hair was in the same style it always just, only it looked like she put a lot more work into making it look neat today. She wore a bright red tanktop with a matching choker around her neck, and a pair of artfully faded dark blue jeans. On her feet were a pair of light pink flats with cute white bows on them. Though the outfit looked pretty casual yet still extremely beautiful, it was obvious to anybody that she put in a whole lot of time and care to get the outfit to look the way it did on her.

Of course, anybody included Ikuto. He already felt the strange feeling growing from inside of him when he saw his secretary stepping out of the elevator doors. And he was seething with anger and jealousy when she stepped into his office, considering he clearly heard a guy or two whistling at Amu.

_Whoever those couple of guys are are goind to be dead meat.. they're going to be fired so quickly..._

"Hey Ikuto!" Amu's sweet voice pulled her boss away from his thoughts. It was kind of strange to the blue haired man about how much his way of thinking about Amu has changed through everything. He remembered that he used to think of her as some useless airhead that he would think of countless ways to torment. Now he looked at her as a human, just like, if not better, than himself.

Ikuto stared at Amu for a bit, taking in her attire. His eyes travelled from the hem of her jeans all the way to the V-neck of her tank-top, which showed a bit of cleavage. He suddenly felt his mind begin to fill with many thoughts about pinning down the innocent pinkette on the ground and doing... some things to her. He could already feel the soft, gentle touch of her lips against his and so much more...

He suddenly shook his head violently, clearing all the thoughts out of his head. He shouldn't be thinking of thoughts like that, especially when the girl in mind already had a boyfriend...

"You look... nice," Ikuto managed to choke out. Amu's smile faded.

"Nice?" She asked nervously. "It's just _nice_? Maybe I should go home, a-and try to work on it some more..."

Amu already took one hesitant step towards the door. Ikuto shook his head again, extending an arm out and wrapping his fingers around her slim wrist.

"Don't," He said quietly. "I lied. You... you look beyond nice. You... look absolutely perfect."

Amu's face brightened immediately.

"Perfect?" She squealed. "Really! Then Tadase'll surely love it!"

Ikuto felt all the breath being sucked out of him.

"Ta...da...se...?" He asked, stretching out the name of the person he disliked to a great extent. Amu grinned and nodded.

"Uh huh!" She answered. "Remember? We're going out today! Strange... everyone else has told me that that was all I could talk about for the past week... did you notice that too?"

Ikuto didn't answer; he was too busy trying to keep his smile in tact. The truth was he had always tuned her out nowadays whenever she started talking about Tadase. It bothered him a bit that he had to spend every moment he had with Amu listening to her talk about that guy.

Amu shrugged, taking his silence as a yes.

"Anyways," She went on excitedly. "Since is the first time we're doing anything together in _ages_, I was hoping that I could use this as a chance to make him like me as much as back then again! Great idea huh?"

"Yeah... great..." He mumbled unwillingly. Amu radiant smile shone brightly.

"You really think he'll like it?" She asked, a flicker of doubt in her voice and eyes. Ikuto thought for a moment.

_She's really... happy that she's getting a chance to see him again... Ikuto, you should just... just be happy for her. If she's happy then everything's okay... right...?_

He cleared his mind and smiled slightly at her.

"You'll be fine," He assured her gently. Amu smiled again.

"Thanks," She murmured gratefully. "It's why I was so late to work today... I spent the whole morning trying to look like this. I want everything to go perfectly with Tadase!"

As if right on cue, Ikuto heard a light knock on his door. He looked up and saw Tadase, standing there and smiling politely at Amu and Ikuto.

"Tadase-kun!" Amu exclaimed in an almost fan-girlish way. She flung the door open, throwing her arms tightly around Tadase's neck. Tadase stood there for a moment, a bit taken aback by his girlfriend's actions, but then returned the hold. Ikuto flinched.

_How can such a retard make such a perfect girl so happy?_

"Neh, Amu-chan," Tadase said. "We should get going now, shouldn't we?"

Amu nodded excitedly and followed Tadase out like a puppy would follow a man carrying fresh meat.

Ikuto watched as the happy couple walked towards the elevator. Just as Tadase was about to push the button on the elevator, he froze. Nervously, he turned back to Amu.

"Amu," He said quickly. "Could you hold on for a moment? I have to go use the restroom..."

Amu grinned and nodded. Tadase swiftly ran in the direction of the bathroom. Amu walked around the entrance to the elevator aimlessly, completely oblivious to the fact that from his office, Ikuto was watching her intently with want filling his eyes.

Suddenly, one of Ikuto's other workers walked towards Amu. He stopped right in front of her, standing close enough so that Amu had no way of moving away. Ikuto jumped up in shock as the worker roughly kissed Amu's neck, leaving a small red mark.

That did it. Ikuto burst out of his office and ran towards the scene. By the time he had gotten there, there were many marks upon Amu's neck. The man now had one hand gently brushing Amu's forearm, reducing the amount of fidgeting she could do by a lot. The other hand was running back and forth across the front of Amu's body, grazing her breasts multiple times.

"How about," He whispered seductively. "You come back with me and we can have a little... fun together..."

Amu's eyes widened in fear. Despite the amount of kicking she was doing, she wasn't strong enough to escape the man's hold. Her eyes finally met Ikuto's, yet it didn't ease the horror in her expression.

"Ikuto!" She tried to scream, but it came out muffled since the worker planted his lips on hers. Ikuto ran over and used all his strength to yank the guy off of Amu.

"You do realize," He said through his teeth. "That you could well be arrested for what you just did right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Ikuto pressed the elevator button, opening the doors and throwing the man in.

"Don't ever come back," He barked harshly. "And get out of here before I decide to kill you along with firing you."

The man curled up in a corner of the elevator, looking just as scared as Amu had a moment ago. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ikuto turned back to Amu, all the anger in his eyes quickly vanishing and turning into anxiety and worry for his secretary.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, tugging gently on Amu's pink strands of hair to straigthen them out again. Amu looked like she was about to cry, but she managed to nod and smile gratefully at her rescuer.

"Thanks," She whispered. "Thank you so much."

Ikuto smiled at her, and began to fidget with the choker around her neck. He tugged at and adjusted it enough so that all the red marks on Amu's neck were out of sight.

"You wouldn't want Tadase getting the wrong idea by seeing those, would you?" He murmured. Amu nodded, extremely thankful.

"I owe you," She said softly, just as Tadase was running back.

"Sorry," The blonde apologized, wrapping an arm around Amu. "There was a really long wait for the bathroom.. so then I had to stand there..."

_... or I just lost track of time while texting Suki._

Amu smiled at him.

"It's okay!" She said cheerfully, all the evidence of what happened just moments ago now gone. She turned her head this way and that, looking for Ikuto so she could thank him one more time, but he was no where to be seen.

A couple feet away, Ikuto stood, hidden behind a wall. He wanted to give Amu her time with Tadase, since it was obvious to anyone that she wanted it so badly. He left from his hiding spot, staring at nothing in particular sadly as he heard the couple take the elevator back down.

_Why him.. why not me...?_

*****

"So," Amu said, taking another sip of the Coke she got. "Do you know what day is coming up?"

She and Tadase were sitting across the table from each other in the restaurant.

"Our two-year anniversary?" Tadase answered immediately, without any hesitation.

"That's right," Amu said angrily. "But instead of getting me a present, you break up with me!"

She didn't know what was fueling her anger. She knew that normally the girl would be sad if the guy broke up with her. But now she was angry. Very angry.

"Were you toying with me?" She demanded. Tadase looked uncomfortable with the question. Amu slammed her palm down on the table.

"I was right, wasn't I?" She asked. Tadase looked down and nodded.

"Who?"

As if right on cue, a girl slipped into the restaurant. She walked over to the two of them, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Tadase. Amu couldn't help but stare at her.

Her wavy brown hair tumbled down to her midback, with a plaid light blue headband to keep any of it from falling in front of her face. She wore an extremely tight, black tanktop with layers of ruffles. It was so tight that it made her already large breasts look even bigger. The girl had on short shorts, so short that Amu could get a clear view of her butt when she bent down to grab a chair. The black heels on her feet made a soft 'clack' sound as she walked across the room towards them. No one could see her face, it was hidden behind a rather large pair of sunglasses.

Amu felt her throat dry up as she saw the girl rest her head on Tadase's shoulder and Tadase in return put an arm around her slim waist.

"Amu..." He said slowly. "I'd like you to meet-"

"I don't care who she is," Amu interupted snappishly. "You know what? Fine. Let's forget about us. No wait. What I meant was it's just _me _that has to forget anything, huh? You probably already forgetten ages ago when you decided to have her!"

A waiter suddenly came by their table, interupting Amu's yelling.

"Ah, Hotori-san!" The waiter said. "You come here so often, nice to see you again!"

He turned to Amu, smiling at her.

"And you must be Hotori-san's girlfriend?" He asked politely. Amu shook her head.

"Ex," She corrected him. "I'm his _ex-_girlfriend."

She jumped up and stomped out of the restaurant. What surprised her the most was that she wasn't crying. She felt like crying inside, but no tears came out. However, she did feel like all the energy had been drained out of her. She could barely keep herself up standing straight and her eyes open; there was no way she would make it all the way back to work alright and conscious. Everything around her felt like a blur, she couldn't focus on any particular thing. Somehow, she managed to walk through the busy town and to a quiet area of the park without fainting.

Leaning heavily against a tree, Amu managed to pull out her phone and numbly dialed a number.

*****

"It's funny," Suki said, poppping a piece of food into her mouth. "That all it took was a slight hair-color change and Amu couldn't recognize me at all."

Tadase eyed her strangely as he fingered her brown hair.

"I thought your hair was always darker," He commented. "More black than brown."

Suki scowled at him.

"Don't remind me," She muttered. "I was filming a music video outdoors yesterday. There were some delays, so I ended up sitting out in the sun for ages. Just be glad that it's my hair and not my skin."

*****

Ikuto jumped up, startled from his thoughts as he heard his phone ring. He hadn't done anything productive today; his mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Amu and what she was doing.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto," He said once he picked up the phone.

"Ikuto...." A tired, quiet voice said on the other end. "It's me, Amu..."

"Amu?" Ikuto asked urgently. "Are you okay? You sound so-"

"I'm fine," Amu reassured him softly. Ikuto winced at how exhausted the girl sounded. "I..." She paused and took a deep breath. "I'm not feeling good right now. Can I just.. stay home for the rest of the day...?"

"Of course you can," Ikuto said, his voice gentling greatly. But the worry in his tone was still evident.

"Thank you," Amu whispered. "Again. For everything you've ever done for me."

Before Ikuto could get another word out, Amu hung up the phone with a 'click'. Ikuto settled back down in his chair, wondering what could've made her feel so tired so quickly. He remembered her being all happy ontop of being the normally cheerfull Amu that he had come to know and love this morning. What happened to her?

And then realization dawned upon him. He almost hit his head on the table for not figuring it out until now.

_The date... something must've went wrong._

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**:O Review. Now. Remember, I'm not even going to start on the next chapter until there's 3OO**

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	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you Neji0932, xXIkuto's-Secret-LoverXx, Ladot, Kaggie101, mombofamily, Animegirl67213, mysteriousblackcat, Snowrosex3, xSkulls-n-Bones, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Name Change Again :), polar the person, stukinmyskin, Himeka Tsukiyomi, winke, HarunaNiwa073, MaroonAngel of Darkness, Ikutoluver995, Kags21, RandomlyBoredWolfy, rushi luvs anime8D, Diabolical Kitsutora, 9996 Characters, Natsuya801923, Miki-chann, mayoke-luna, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Albie Rodriguez, Kuro Neko-chan, tsukiyomi arisa, Ren'aiXhakumei, Ai-chan95, sylvanicara, Random-Bubbles159, ichiruki12741, and xxxUtauloverxxx for reviewing!**

**Wow. I've never gotten... *uses fingers to count*... 35 reviews for one chapter. And here I was expecting about 1O. I fail. How about 35O next? :D**

**BAAYF. Next week. Santa Cruise. Who's going? D: I don't wanna be the only one going.**

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When Ikuto arrived at the front of Amu's apartment building, he saw her slowly trudging up the steps to the entrance. Just as Amu was on the last step, she suddenly stumbled and lost her footing. She felt herself falling downwards, but instead of hitting the concrete ground, she landed on something softer and warmer.

Amu blinked a couple times and saw Ikuto's arms wrapped securely around her tired body, preventing her from falling.

"Ikuto...?" She whispered. Ikuto tightened his hold around her and helped her up. He smiled softly at her.

"Lean on me," He instructed. Amu did as she was told, trying not to think about how ironic it was that she had told him the exact same thing when she helped him out. Ikuto kept one arm around Amu's waist, the other opening all the doors they had to go through. Amu clutched on to Ikuto's sleeve tightly, struggling to keep herself standing.

"Want me to carry you instead?" Ikuto asked her gently. Amu shook her head.

"I'm fine," She assured him. Ikuto shrugged, they were standing in front of Amu' apartment anyways.

As soon as the two of them were inside. Ikuto released his arm from around her, moving it instead to rest upon her shoulder. His midnight blue eyes stared straight into her honey colored orbs.

"What happened?" He asked, his face filled with nothing but concern and worry for her. Amu didn't answer. She felt her legs begin to tremble, and then they gave way under her. Almost instantly Ikuto was on his knees on the ground next to her, the worry in his expression growing even deeper.

"Amu..?" He again, though this time there was a bit of panic in his voice when he didn't get a response again.

All of a sudden Amu flashed a vision of that girl and Tadase, sitting together and as happy as any other couple. The thought of remembering that Amu used to be like that girl was more terrible and heartbreaking than she could have ever begun to anticipate.

"T-Tadase..." She finally managed to choke out. Ikuto's eyes were wide and watchful as he nodded.

"I figured that much out," He told her. "Now what happened?"

Amu put her hand over her mouth and tried to keep herself from crying. Though she hadn't cried in front of Tadase, now that Ikuto was here with her, she felt like all those tears would spill over sooner or later.

There was that bruised feeling in her chest that always preceded tears, but she told herself that would be very selfish, that she would just be causing Ikuto more worrying if she actually did start crying.

"Ikuto..." She said softly, a single tear sliding out of the corner of her eyes. "H-he broke up with.. with m-me..."

Ikuto gently held her face in his hands, using his thumb to wipe away the tear.

That did it. Amu suddenly burst into tears, sobbing so loudly that people outside the apartment complex actually stopped in their tracks and turned to stare in the direction of the sound.

"Don't cry." A reassuring smile wavered on Ikuto's lips, and then he reached out for her. Amu felt the whole spread of his palm against her back; his other hand lightly brushing some pink hair back from her face. "You don't have a reason to. Someone who's willing to do this to you isn't worth crying over."

Although still crying, Amu felt her whole body relax into his. Ikuto picked her up bridal-style. He walked over to the couch and sat down on it, placing Amu on his lap. Amu continued sobbing, though the noise had died down to just silent crying, burying her face into Ikuto's black shirt. Ikuto didn't say anything; just sat there staring at her lovingly as he patted her back in a reassuring way.

**-some hours of sobbing later-**

Amu had completely stopped crying, though she still clung on to Ikuto tightly and made sniffling sounds every now and then. Occasionally a stray tear would come out, which would almost immediately be wiped away by Ikuto.

Ikuto ignored the numb feelings in his legs from Amu sitting on them for so long. He didn't care that it was getting late and that Yoru was probably going to go hungry again tonight. Right now the only thing on his mind was the deeply saddened pinkette.

He felt Amu shift slightly in his hold. Ikuto looked down at her and saw that she was now staring up at him, eyes swollen from red and crying yet still able to hold a sad and empty stare.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. Ikuto squeezed her tighter to his chest.

"What for?" He asked her gently. "There's nothing for you to apologize for. If anything, it's Tadase that should say sorry."

Amu shook her head, her fist tightening around a clump of Ikuto's shirt. Ikuto sighed.

"If you really don't want to tell me," He said. "You don't have to. I'm not going to make you do anything right now."

Amu hesitated.

"Fine," She told him. "I'll tell you. I'm sorry.. sorry for everything."

Ikuto cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Explain?" He asked, moving a bit so that a majority of Amu's weight was on the couch instead of on him. Despite the fact that Amu felt like she weighed practically nothing, Ikuto didn't like the prolonged feeling of the warm pressure on his legs.

"Well," Amu began, her voice barely audible. "Let's start from the beginning, shall we? That first day I worked for you, I spilled all your coffee and broke your copy machine. Then I thought of Suki as a slut when she was still your girlfriend. And there was that time Saaya locked me in the bathroom and you had to come get me out of there. And then when I was helping you out when you were sick, you said I was bothering you because I was talking too much. And then today. You had to come help me today during that... event in front of the elevator. Then we're back to now. You're stuck wasting your time here because of me, when you could be off doing something much more productive..."

Ikuto laughed softly.

"You make it sound like all of those things were such a big deal," He said. "The first day, I was in a bad mood anyways, anyone who made the same mistake would've gotten the same treatment as you. Suki isn't my girlfriend anymore, so I could care less if you thought of her as a bitch. Saaya and the bathroom... well that was a bit entertainment. It was a nice change from the endless boredom of a normal day. And when I was sick, well I was sick. Any type of noise would've given me a headache, so it wasn't just you. The elevator scene, well let's just say that I was mad at the guy for whistling at you earlier today. I was just begging for an excuse to fire him anyways. And right now, I don't have anything more important that I need to do."

Amu blinked at him.

"Meaning you have nothing else to do," She stated. "Since I'm not important."

Ikuto shook his head.

"You're the _most _important right now," He corrected her. "Meaning yes, I do have some other things to do, but there're not that important to me."

_Wrong. I actually have tons of things for work that I should get on my ass and start doing right now. Just you're more important than those things. You're more important to me than anything in this world._

Amu shrugged. Ikuto studied her face for a moment and noticed that, although her eyes were still a little bit red, the conversation had improved Amu's mood, even if by just a little.

"That's not possible," Amu pointed out. "I'm so unimportant to everyone. Which means everything you have to do must be really unnecessary."

Ikuto frowned.

"Who says you're unncessary?" He asked. Suddenly Amu's sad mood from earlier returned in the blink of an eye.

"It's obvious," She murmured. "If Tadase doesn't want me anymore, and he can just throw me aside like that, then I can't be very important. After all, it only took him ten minutes to break up with me... It was a simple 'I'm breaking up with you' along with some other cheesy lines and then we were done..."

Ikuto clenched his jaw to keep himself from letting out a stream of swear words to let out his anger as he saw a couple of tears fall lightly from Amu's face again.

_That bastard.. he really hurt her. Badly too._

Ikuto used the back of his han to brush away the small droplets of tears.

"Don't cry," He pleaded gently. "You look so much better when you're not crying..."

Amu stopped abruptly.

"You really think so?" She asked. Ikuto smile and nodded. Amu let out a small laugh.

"It's funny..." She said. "You're not even my boyfriend; we're friends.. and yet you've treated me better in the past hour than Tadase has in the past two years."

Ikuto smiled sadly.

_Friends. Just friends. Better than nothing... I guess._

As he was lost in his thoughts, Amu pulled something off from around her neck. Ikuto looked down and saw that she had taken off the key necklace. Now she was only wearing the lock one.

"I don't want this anymore," She said, staring at the key. "Brings back too many sad memories." She looked up at Ikuto. "Do you want it? If you don't then I'm probably going to just throw it away or something..."

Ikuto nodded and took the necklace from her small fingers, placing it around his neck. Amu smiled slightly.

"It looks good on you," She commented.

Amu yawned. She wrapped her arms around Ikuto's waist and gave him a tight hug.

"Thanks," She said again, blinking sleepily. "Even though I've said it so many times today... thanks for everything. Being here... with you, it made everything so much easier... I already feel like I'm almost over Tadase..."

Ikuto hugged her tighter against him, leaning his head down slightly and breathing in the sweet strawberry scent of her hair. The smell seemed to calm down his hatred for Tadase just a bit, and he begun to relax as Amu slowly fell asleep.

He smiled at the sleeping girl in his arms gently, brushing some hair away from in front of her closed eyelids before picking her up and carrying her back to her bed.

Ikuto set her down softly, being careful not to wake her up as he covered her with the blanket.

"Go home," Amu suddenly mumbled in her sleep. "Go home and feed Yoru. He's hungry...."

Ikuto smirked as Amu's light sleeping breaths took up again. He bent down and gave Amu a small kiss on the cheek.

"Good night Amu," He breathed. "And... I... love you."

He wasn't sure if Amu heard that or not, but Amu's cheeks grew bright red and she pressed her face deeper into the pillow. A small smile spread upon her lips. Grinning, he silently slipped out of her apartment and began heading back home.

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**Review? :D Every review matters.**

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	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you RandomlyBoredWolfy, OnlyIkutos413, Ikutoluver995, Tsuki's Angel, Meikyuu Kazuki, Animegirl67213, Ren'aiXhakumei, EVIL SUGAR NAZI OVERLORD, xxxUtauloverxxx, mombofamily, xXIkuto's-Secret-LoverXx, Albie Rodriguez, xRachellAnimeFreakx, Kuro-Neko-Chan, mayoke-luna, HarunaNiwa073, . The. Dark. Violinist., LadyofNemesis, Neji0392, snowrosex3, Kags21, rushi luvs anime8D, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, ichiruki12741, Cat, polar the person, MaroonAngel of Darkness, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Tsukiyomi arisa, XYNDiATE, and Your Secret Admirer for reviewing!**

**... I got the ideas for Suki's part when she saw Amu and Ikuto from this Amuto hentai doujin I read earlier today o_o Just.. don't ask.. please... I wanted to write her as a deserpate person for a little bit instead of the arrogant bitchy I made her before :) Sort of like the Utau from the beginning of the anime. Totally helpless and worshipping when around Ikuto but totally mean and arrogant when around anyone else.**

**The chapter basically revolves around Suki, and her totally screwed up by fame mind. But it's still very necessary to get the story moving on.. plus it'll make you hate her more than you do already :) The more hate, the merrier!**

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The sun shone brightly through the windows as Amu sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. All the events of the day before came flooding back into her mind. Yesterday gave her a piercing, unavoidable sadness inside herself. Today felt just a bit better. It was undeniable that she still felt sad and unwanted, but yet now it didn't feel like a sharp thorn filled of pain stabbing throug her heart. She decided that she might actually be able to go back to work.

Her hand instantly flew to her cheek, which was still slightly warm and red where Ikuto had kissed her. What had happened during those moments were the only moments of that day the she couldn't remember clearly, since she was already drifting off to sleep when they occured. All she could remember was that Ikuto gave her a kiss and then told her something. But what was that something?

Frowning, Amu leapt off her bed and got ready for work. For some reason, it bothered her that she didn't know what he said. Like it was something really important and she just missed out on it because of her forgetful self.

Amu shrugged. She'd find out sooner or later.

*****

Suki sat in Tadase's kitchen, feet propped up on the table while idly flipping through another magazine. Tadase sat next to her, randomly flipping through channels using the TV remote.

All of a sudden Suki, closed her magazine, setting her feet back on the floor. She rolled up the magazine and used it to give Tadase a whack on the head.

"What was that for?" Tadase demanded. Suki frowned cutely in his direction.

"You're no fun," She pouted. "Ikuto was so much better. He wouldn't just let me sit around bored all the time when I was with him."

Tadase sighed.

"Stop comparing me to him," He said through his teeth. Suki shrugged.

"Why not?" She asked nonchalantly. "I can do whatever I want."

Tadase glared at her. The singer's attitude was starting to piss him off.

"If you think he's so good," He said in a sarcastically exasperated tone. "Then why don't you go back and beg to see if he'll take him back then?"

Suki thought for a moment.

"Hey," She said softly. "You're right..."

Tadase's eyes widened with horror.

"You're serious?" He asked. Suki's mood from ten seconds ago vanished and was replaced with a more calm and understanding one.

"Yeah..." She said, lost in her thinking. "Ikuto... Ikuto as always cared about me a lot more than you ever will. Ikuto... _loved _me. And you, I don't know about you. You're a lost cause. But Ikuto... he... oh! I was making a mistake this whole time!"

She turned back to Tadase and gave him a triumphant grin.

"We're done," She announced proudly. "And I'm going to go back to Ikuto. He loved me so much when we were together.. a month or two couldn't change those feelings, could it?"

She ignored all of Tadase begging and pleadings to stay with him. It occured to her that he was only here because she, like all celebrites do, bought her boyfriend outrageously expensive gifts. She snorted softly. Tadase probably just sold them all, since every time she came over, her latest gift would be no where to be seen. She mentall slaped herself for not realizing this sooner.

As Suki turned around to leave, she felt her heart grow heavy with a loving regret. She realized that she never loved Tadase, that it was just Ikuto she had had feelings for all this time. She felt a strange click in her brain, telling her that she wasn't her selfish self right now. It was filled with a passion, a want... no a _need_, for that blue haired man that had loved her so adoringly in the past.

The one who's heart she had broken selfishly for someone else. And the reason for that? Well at this point she had no idea herself.

All those love-struck feelings that normally were just in her songs suddenly swirled inside of her, turning from thin lies she told her fans into the real feeling. She needed Ikuto to be back by her side.

Now the question was what will it take to make that happen.

(Meh... you guys will hate the bitch again later :D)

*****

Ikuto smiled at the Amu that was sleeping on the couch in his office. Amu said that she always felt so much better when she was asleep, like all the worries and miseries of her life would disappear from her mind, even if only for a couple of hours or so.

Because Ikuto knew of this small piece of information, and that fact that he loved Amu enough to let her do anything she wanted, he decided to have her just rest and sleep for the day. Anything to make his little secretary feel better about what happened to her.

Amu suddenly stirred in her sleep, sitting up and yawning. Ikuto was immediately by her side again.

"You doing any better?" He asked, unnecessary anxiety in his tone. "Do you need anything. Are you hungry, thirsty...?"

Amu giggled.

"Stop over-worrying yourself," She said. "I'll be fine.. sooner or later. Now do you have any work you need me to do?"

Ikuto looked at her doubtfully.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "I mean you don't have to do any work if you don't want to... I'll always still pay you and everything..."

Amu placed her hand over his mouth to get him to stop talking. Ikuto's breath hitched, a slight pink coloring his cheeks as he felt Amu's warm, soft palm press against his lips.

"No," Amu said. "I'm not going to get paid for doing nothing again. It's not right. So you can either give me something to do, or you can not pay me for today."

Ikuto hesitated. He didn't like either choice.

"Fine," He grumbled. "Here's your job. Sit on this couch and look cute for me while I work."

Amu pouted.

"That's not a job," She protested. Ikuto raised an eyebrow, pulling out her contract once again from a drawer behind his desk.

"... as the secretary," He read aloud. "You are to abide to any rules set to you by those higher than you. Part of your job is to also do as your boss says without complaint... and you get the rest."

Amu frowned.

"Fine," She said, striking a mock-pose and putting on the most adorable face she could muster. Ikuto quickly walked back to his chair and glued his eyes to the screen to prevent himself from pouncing on the pinkette right there and then.

Little did the two of them know that, behind one of the many walls separating up the building floor, a famous singer was artfully hidden, disguised as one of the normal workers and watching them intently.

"Ikuto..." She breathed in agony, even loving the sound of his name on her tongue. "Why... why did you choose her? Why her and not me? Look at me, take a good look at me, and you can see that I'm so much better that her. I mean, what can you see in someone like _her_? She's so... ugly. It's disgusting."

Her eyes trailed down to her own, perfectly formed, model-worthy body.

"And then me... I can give you so much more... more happiness when we have fun together... with what I have to offer you. I can give you everything and so much more of anything you want... Damn you. Damn you Hinamori Amu, allowing Ikuto to waste his time on you... he has much more important things to attend to.. that wonderful guy.. like he should be with me..."

She continued watching Amu and Ikuto, her heart thumping from the excitement from her thoughts of the possiblity of making Ikuto hers again. The racking noise from her heart soon spread to her ears, drowning out all the noise around her filling her mind with rosy thoughts of her and Ikuto together.

Suki stared at Ikuto adoringly, but felt her heart crush and a flicker of doubt arouse inside her as she saw Ikuto leaning closer to Amu, using his finger to tilt her chin up and stare straight into her eyes as he talked to his secretary. Ikuto smiled flirtatiously and Amu blushed a bright red.

Now, instead of the romantic thoughts her wild imagination thought of, Suki began to instead fear that maybe, somehow, she had become the mindless fool this time around. The one that was thrown carelessly in the corner as the man she loved found someone else. That was the way love was-- she guessed, it always left you unsteady on your feet.

Something caused her to want to turn her head away from the scene unfolding in front of her, before that feeling of vulnerability grew too strong for her proud self to handle. But before she could, she saw Ikuto, staring at Amu with such an affection and desire it made her lips quiver open in distress.

"Ohh Ikuto..." She sighed to herself in a distraught tone, leaning against the wall to support herself like the dramatic person she was. Her breaths grew quicker and shallower as she felt the full pain of seeing your love love someone else as much as you loved them. "Ikuto... My precious Ikuto... why.. how... how could you...? How could you fall for someone... like that...? Someone so.. unworthy of your unconditional love..."

Despite the distance between Suki and the office where everything was taking place, she could still clearly see the want for Amu in Ikuto's midnight blue eyes. Of course, Amu noticed it too, and slapped Ikuto away playfully.

"Ikutooo!" Suki practically screamed almost loud enough for everyone to hear. She clutched the edge of the wall to keep her shaking legs from collapsing on her. "Look at her.. look at what she's doing to you. She's denying you of what you want. You.. you see... if that was me, me you were looking at in that way.... I would've given in to what you wanted so long ago... And yet.. despite all of this... you.. still love her over me... Why...? That stupid Amu girl... she has you right where I want you, and you're probably not even appreciating it. It must feel so good, make you feel so loved and wanted... to have Ikuto treat you like that... It's so unfair, life's so unfair to me... It's not fair at all! Nothing good ever happens to me anymore! It's always others that get what I really need in my life..."

She took a deep breath, and stood up on her own again once she felt her legs steadying under her. She knew she had to go. Now. As much as Suki planned to apologize and admit her feelings again to Ikuto, seeing him.. interacting like that with someone like Amu; it crushed her inside. She'd try again the next time she runs into him.

"...Trust me, Hinamori Amu," She muttered under her breath as she exited the building. "Trust me. I will get Ikuto. He loves _me, _not _you_, after all. He just doesn't know it yet, but deep down, Ikuto still loves me more than anything in this world. He just needs a little something to remind him. That's all."

... and the whole time, Suki was completely oblivious to all the people staring at her, quite disturbed by the girl grabbing onto a wall and talking to herself.

**While all that was happening**

Amu glared at Ikuto, sparks of playfullness lighting her eyes. Ikuto was so glad that Amu seemed so relaxed and carefree when the two of them talked now, instead of the miserable girl she was feeling like as of yesterday.

"For the last time," Amu said. "Yes, I'll be willing to sit here and look cute for you as a job, but there's no way I'm going to strip for you too."

Ikuto pouted.

"Come on," He whined. "It's the least you can do for what I did yesterday."

Amu hesitated, keeping her eyes trained on the ground. For a moment, Ikuto was a bit scared. He brought up day that is, as told by Amu, the worst day of Amu's existence.

"Amu," He said in a softer tone. "I-I'm sorry if..."

Amu looked up, a smile on her face.

"It's nothing," She said reassuringly. "I was just thinking... when is your birthday? Maybe then I'll do something for you then.. _NOT STRIPPING._ But maybe something else."

"December first," Ikuto answered. Amu thought for a moment. That was only a week away.

"Well," She said slowly. "Is there anything in particular that you want?"

Ikuto raised an eyebrow.

"That depends," He said as casually as if they were discussing the weather. "Any limitations? Like what type of present? How perverted can I get?"

Amu flushed.

"It can be anything," She told him. "A service or a materialistic item. But _nothing _perverted. Like I said earlier, I'm not going to strip for you even if it's your birthday."

Ikuto wasted no time in answering.

"I want you," He said. "To go on a date with me."

* * *

**Review :D**

**This chapter was actually done yesterday... I just didn't want to upload two chapters on the same day so I waited until today to upload it.**

**The review button is right here:**

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	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you MaroonAngel of Darkness, Cream-Bunny, Snowrosex3, 9996 characters, XBlackCat, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Kuro-Neko Chan, Helapayne, looooooooooooooooove, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, RandomlyBoredWolfy, mombo family, xXLittleMissKissXx, HarunaNiwa073, Diabolical Kitsutora, xxxUtauloverxxx, polar the person, Cat, sylvanicara, Random-Bubbles159, Animegirl67213, Born2beAngel, BlueAmuto, Ikutoluver995, Kags21, rushi luvs anime8D, LucifericTenshi, Ren'aiXhakumei, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, angel of eternal magic, Natsuya801923, Blue-Cat-94, xhappily-randomx, tsukiyomi arisa, LongingToBeFree, and xXLove'n'Hate for reviewing!**

**Also thank you guys soo much for 4OO+ reviews! It really means a lot to me.. although I still rarely reply to reviews. I found out that I always reply to the same people, since most of you guys always leave something really short like "update soon!" or something.  
... and still no thanks to those who don't review :) You guys are no fun. I bet that if I said for every decent review you'd get a night with Ikuto then you guys would all go review T_T**

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Ikuto sat on a bench in the park, patiently waiting for Amu to show up for their date. He was so surprised that she even accepted, the thought of that itself already made him feel good inside.

All of a sudden, he saw the girl in mind happily walking towards him. Ikuto had to admit she looked a lot cuter in casual clothes instead of her normal work attire. She wore a whie t-shirt with colorfully lettered words splattered across it and a plaid gray mini skirt. Instead of the normal heels she wore to work, now Amu had on pink high tops. A light blue bag hung from her shoulders, swinging back and forth with every step she took towards Ikuto.

Like always, Ikuto could tell how much effort she put into her outfit. He was amazed when he saw that she tried even harder than when she was going on a date with Tadase.

"Ikuto!" Amu said excitedly, pulling him back out of his thoughts. She sat on the bench next to him. Ikuto smiled at her.

"Is there anything in particular you want to do today?" He asked. Amu shrugged.

"It's your birthday," She pointed out. "Meaning it's your day to do what you want. If anything, it should be me asking you what to do today?"

Ikuto hesitated. There was something that he wanted, but he wasn't sure if Amu would agree to it or not. Amu noticed his silence.

"You can tell me," She said as if she could read his mind. "I won't make fun of you or anything for it."

Ikuto sighed softly.

"I was hoping," He said. "That just for today... maybe I could.. pretend you were my girlfriend? I mean, just for today. If you really want to, tomorrow we can pretend like nothing ever happened between us. We can go back to being boss and secretary. I just want a day where I could know what it's like to be your boyfriend..."

Ikuto closed his eyes and waited for Amu to laugh at him. But it never came. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Amu grinning at him.

"That's fine," She said happily. "Just don't do anything too perverted to me. Remember that I don't care what day it is, I'm not going to strip for you."

Ikuto smiled softly and took her hand in his and scooted closer to her on the bench. Amu blushed, but didn't say anything.

"So where are we going?" She asked him. Ikuto frowned.

"To be honest," He said. "I didn't think of anything. I was planning on asking you and just doing what you wanted."

"But it's _your _birthday!" Amu protested. "Not mine. We did what I want on mine, so we're going to do what you want today."

Ikuto thought for a moment.

"Well how about the amusement park?" He suggested. "We can walk there since it's not too far away anyways."

He stood up, pulling Amu with him. There was a strange twinkle in his eyes, as if he was savoring every moment and imprinting them into his brain forever. And he was. Ikuto didn't want to forget a single second of the time where Amu would let him pretend to be her boyfriend.

_It might only be for whatever's left of today.. but it's better than nothing._

Amu pulled Ikuto along as they walked through the park. The two of them walked in totally silence, both enjoying the time they had together, totally unknowing of the other person's feelings.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~  
**(A/N. Lol yeah. Trying out a new section divider. You like this or the row of five stars better?)

"Come on," Ikuto said. "We're next."

The two of them were waiting in line to buy tickets to get into the amusement park. Amu nodded and followed Ikuto. The woman in the ticket booth's breath hitched as she took in the man standing in front of her.

"Hi," She breathed, subconsciously straightening out her hair and work uniform. She winked at Ikuto flirtatiously. "I'm guessing that you need two tickets. One for you and one for... her...?"

She said the last part with distaste, glaring daggers at Amu. Amu flinched. Ikuto put a protective arm around his 'girlfriend'.

"Yes," He said. "Yes one for me and one for _my girlfriend_."

Ikuto smirked inwardly at his newfound power of being able to call Amu his. The worker frowned at Amu some more, eyes filled with disgust. However, as soon as she noticed that Ikuto saw this, she quickly placed her happy smile back on and handed them the two tickets. Ontop of Ikuto's, however, there was a sticky note with a phone number on it.

He looked back up at the worker, eyebrow's raised.

"Call me," The worker mouthed, smiling seductively at him. "Maybe you can come over one night or something..."

kuto glared at her.

"Didn't I just tell you I had a girlfriend?" He asked. The worker rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"So?" She whispered, leaning her face closer to his. Ikuto flinched at the strong minty scent of it. He pulled his face back.

"No." He said, glancing down at Amu, who was pretending to be completely absorbed in a tree during the arguement. "I told you, I already have a girlfriend. I don't need anyone else."

Then, ignoring the workers dissapointed face, he turned away from her and headed to somewhere in the amusement park, dragging Amu along with him.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Suki adjusted the giant shades covering her face. She had been following Ikuto secretly everywhere ever since she discovered her newfound adoration for him. Last night she went She had the perfect view of Ikuto from the tree she was sitting on. The same tree Amu was staring at earlier, to be specific. The singer was shocked that Amu was staring at the tree so intently, yet the pink-haired idiot didn't notice anyone sitting in it.

"Yes," Suki heard Ikuto say. "One for me and one for my girlfriend."

She flinched.

_His... girlfriend...? Ikuto... it's not supposed to be someone so ugly and stupid that you should be holding like that and calling your girlfriend. That should be me!_

"Ikuto..." She whispered. "I'm so much better than Amu... why pick her over someone like me...?"

She slowly and reluctantly slid off her spot on the tree and walked around to look for a new spot to observe Ikuto from. It seemed that Suki would have to cancel all of her singing rehersals today. Her need to constantly see Ikuto was growing too large at too quickly of a pace.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu ran of the ride, still full of energy and excitement as she began to point out the dozens and dozens of rides that she wanted to go on with Ikuto next. Ikuto walked behind Amu at a much slower pace.

"Amu.." He panted. "We've only been here for half an hour and we've already been on _twelve_ rides. Can't we stop for a little bit or something?"

Amu sighed.

"Ikuto," She reminded him. "This is an _amusement park. _The whole point of coming to places like this is to go on as many rides as you can!"

Ikuto shook his head.

"We're going to be here all day," He pointed out. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt if you slowed down just a bit..."

Amu brightened.

"How about we just going on slower rides?" She said excitedly. "One that's really good with really long lines! That way I still get my rides and you get your time to just stand there for a bit!"

Ikuto shrugged. Amu took that as a 'yes' and grabbed his hand tightly in hers again, dragging him to any ride that looked interesting to her. In the end, she chose an merry-go-round. The line was long but not too long; it only stretched around part of the ride itself. But Amu still ran to the ride, Ikuto following closely behind her.

Ikuto smiled. He had never seen this childish side of Amu before. The one that would laugh and smile way too much and could be made instantly happy by being given something as simple as a piece of candy. But he wasn't going to complain. If Amu was happy right now, then he was too.

He suddenly felt a soft tug on his hand. Looking up, he saw that Amu was staring at him with wide, excited eyes.

"Come on!" She said. "We're up now!"

Laughing softly to himself, Ikuto allowed Amu to pull him onto whichever animal on the merry-go-round she chooses. In the end, the two of them shared one. It was a blue cat nuzzling a pink strawberry.

Amu stared at the ride.

"That cat looks kind of like Yoru," She commented. "But I've never seen a pink strawberry before. Only red ones."

Ikuto wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"I don't know," He said. "You're kind of like a pink strawberry since you have pink hair and it smells like strawberries."

Amu blushed and leaned back against Ikuto. He rested his head on her shoulder.

"Thanks," He whispered. "Thanks for playing along for me..."

Amu laughed.

"It's your birthday," She told him. "The day I'd do what you want."

Ikuto didn't answer, but continued nuzzling his so called 'girlfriend's neck. Amu stiffened when she felt a wet, warm tounge sliding over her skin, but tried to refrain from yelling at him.

_It's his day. Just give him what he wants. You can hit him tomorrow..._

However, Amu couldn't help but gasp as she felt the slimy body part moving upwards, towards her ear. She clenched to the golden pole of the merry-go-round tightly as the tounge lightly rasped over her ear.

She let out a small scream as she felt something nibbling on her earlobe. At the sound of the scream, Ikuto immediately pulled away, fear filling his eyes from realization at what he had just done.

"A-Amu," He said, scared as he watched Amu scoot as far away from him as she could on the ride. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking.. a-and.."

Amu sighed.

"It's fine," She said, but she stared at the ground instead of back into Ikuto's eyes. "It's fine."

Ikuto didn't seemed convinced. He made no attempt to pull Amu back towards him for the rest of the ride. Even after the ride he followed her from a safe distance behind, keeping his hands shoved in his pocket instead of held tightly in Amu's grip.

Amu noticed this and frowned. She felt like she was ruining the day for Ikuto. She ran back to him, standing right in front of Ikuto and staring at him sadly.

"Ikuto..." She said quietly. "Can we just... forget that any of that happened?"

Ikuto shrugged, the guilty expression still not leaving his face. Amu gave him an irresistable smile.

"Please?" She asked again. "Pretty please?"

One look at Amu's smile and Ikuto felt himself wanting to give in. No one could say no to a smile like that. He grinned.

"Fine," He said, but inside he still felt bad. However, he put on a smile for Amu anyways. Amu believed it for the real thing, and continued her tugging of Ikuto and making him ride all the rides with her.

Suki slowly got off the horse of the merry-go-round; the horse right behind the cat that Amu and Ikuto rode. She winced at the amount of love and attention Ikuto was focusing on the ugly pink-haired girl. The brat didn't deserve that from him.

However, as she followed them off the ride and to wherever Amu wanted to go next, the singer smiled in satisfaction at the no-contact space Ikuto kept between him and her.

Suki took a confident step towards her love. Now was her chance to talk to him. Just as she was about to extend an arm out to him and call out his name, she saw the girl she hated run back towards him.

"Damn it," Suki hissed under her breath. "Ikuto... why won't you love me? I love you, why can't you love me back?"

**- eight hours and a couple hundred rides later -**

Amu pointed at a rather large ferris wheel in the center of the park.

"Neh, Ikuto," She said excitedly. "Can we go on that next?"

Ikuto laughed and nodded. His mood was rather cheerful again, evidently thanks to Amu's never ending energy and happiness today.

The person managing the ride smiled at Amu, who was still clutching rather tightly onto Ikuto's hand.

"You two look so cute together," He commented. "I remember meeting my first love... Well anyways, have fun!"

As Amu and Ikuto climbed into a gondola, Amu threw a weird look over her shoulder.

"That was a strange guy," She muttered, sitting next to Ikuto. Ikuto didn't say anything, he just put an arm around Amu's shoulder and enjoyed the ride.

As they were ascending upwards, the sun began to set and a beautiful, glowing moon took it's place. Ikuto frowned. The day was coming to an end, and tomorrow everything would go back to normal. He couldn't treat himself like Amu's boyfriend and Amu as his girlfriend anymore.

Just as they were at the highest point of the ride, there was the loud creaking sound of metal, and then they stopped moving. Amu instinctively moved closer Ikuto.

"What happened?" She asked nervously, as if she expected Ikuto to have the answers to all her problems.

"We're sorry," The speaker in the gondola boomed. "But there are some technical difficulties right now, so just hold on and relax as we fix it."

Ikuto pulled Amu closer to him, and didn't object when she rested her head on his shoulders.

"You know," She said, closing her eyes. "I have one more present for you."

Ikuto raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"Well what is it?" He asked. Amu smiled nervously at him.

"Close your eyes," She instructed him. Ikuto did as he told, a smile still playing around his lips.

In one swift motion, Amu leaned in and gave Ikuto a kiss on the lips. Ikuto's eyes flew open and widened at the contact, but closed them again and deepened the kiss once he figured out what was going on. He tried to enjoy the kiss while it lasted, but the back of his mind was still focused on making sure he didn't try anything that would be more than kissing her.

After a minute or so, Amu pulled away. Ikuto felt dissapointment growing in him, but kept Amu in his hold, rocking her gently back and forth even though the kiss was done. Amu closed her eyes and tried to relax, but the loud thumping of her heart was making it difficult.

_Ikuto... I love you.... okay Amu, now to tell him that outloud._

"Ikuto..." Amu murmured. "Happy birthday... and I-"

Another moment of loud creaking metal interupted Amu.

"We fixed the ride," The intercom speaker said. "So those of you at the top of the ferris wheel will be back down shortly.

Amu smiled sadly, the will to admit her feelings to Ikuto slowly disappearing by the second. Ikuto didn't say anything, his eyes were still slightly dazed from the pleasure he felt from the kiss. He wanted it to last forever, but two minutes of it was better than nothing.

Soon, their moment of silent happiness ended as the ride came to an end. As the two of them exited the ride and headed out of the amusement park, there was still a silence between them.

A silence that the two of them ignored. Just being next to the other one already made them happy.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto stopped walking as soon as he and Amu were standing in front of Amu's apartment.

"Amu..." He said softly. "On the ferris wheel, you were saying something, but you cut off. What was it you were going to say?"

Amu hesitated. As the two of them were walking her back to her home, her nerves had built themselves up again, and now she felt almost afraid to tell Ikuto what she wanted to say. She quickly racked her brain for something she could say in place of that.

"Yeah," She began lamely. "I...I-I.. I wanted to say that I had a really nice time today.. and thanks for that. Today was really fun, and I enjoyed every moment of it."

Ikuto smiled at her.

"Glad to hear it," He said softly, bending down to give her a kiss on the forehead. Amu blushed, but didn't say anything as she unlocked the door.

"Good night, Ikuto," She whispered, closing the door behind her.

Ikuto smiled at the closed door. Today had been one of the best days of his existence.

* * *

**I'm finally done :D Took me forever too D: Once again, thanks for 4OO+ reviews. Kind of sad how this story's going to be done soon D: I'm going to miss it.**

**So now be good people and review as if your life depended on it.**

**Here's the button for you people who don't know where it is :D**

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	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you Kaggie101, Neji0392, Kags21, EdoPt90, Tsuki's Angel, BlueAmuto, xBlackCat, REX01091, HaruaNiwa071, liledormouse, Animegirl67213, Snowrosex3, xhappily-randomx, Kuro Neko-Chan, Random-Bubbles159, rushi luvs anime8D, mombofamily, sylvanicara, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, tiki0112number2, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, Bun Bun :3, MaroonAngel of Darkness, Cat, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Ren'AiXhakumei, Hinami Kimori, xXLittleMissKissXx, Ikutoluver995, ichiruki12741, xxxUtauloverxxx, ichika7walkure, Born2beAngel, Diabolical Kitsutora, phoebe, and xXLove'n'HateXx for reviewing!'**

**Suki the Stalker. That's what half of you guys said in your reviews. And I like that.. it sounds somewhat catchy XDD**

**Oh and by the way. This time I got the idea for Ikuto's perverted dream from my music obsession.. again. The ****_passionate version _of Seung Ri's ****_Strong Baby _MV. Oh god how I hate that girl who gets to make out with him. I bet twenty bucks that once people figure out her name and some info about her, she'll turn up dead sooner or later. VI fangirls (like me) go pretty far in fangirling :D I already hate that girl without knowing her name.**

* * *

_Ikuto sat on the edge of the bed, smiling as the pink-haired girl he loved walking towards him. Amu smiled at him, sitting on his lap with one leg on either side of him. She put one arm around him, the other one gently stroking Ikuto's well-toned body as Ikuto hungrily devoured her with kisses. One of his hands played with the strap of her skimpy dress. That pretty dress had to go soon; it wouldn't be too hard to rip off of her. His other hand ran up and down her creamy leg, remembering it's soft, smooth texture. Amu's hand moved from wrapped tightly around Ikuto's back to tangle her fingers in his midnight blue hair..._

_She unbuttoned Ikuto's shirt impatiently with her other hand, sliding her hands under the soft white fabric to feel his abs without even bothering to take the shirt off. Ikuto chuckled softly while still continuing to move his lips agains Amu's, alternating between that and nibbling at her neck._

_"Ikuto..." Amu whispered seductively. "I love you."_

_Ikuto smirked. His fingers finally mangaed to slip the poor little dress strap off of Amu's shoulder. Amu moaned softly as he began to move his kisses down to her now bare shoulder. Ikuto was about to pull the strap even lower when-_

"Ikuto!" A voice called out. "I'm back!"

Ikuto jumped slightly, hitting his head on the desk he fell asleep in front of.

"Ow," He muttered, looking around at his surroundings. He was still in his office, with no Amu on top of his lap. Instead, the girl in mind was standing in the doorway and holding a box of food, evidently confused.

_It was all a dream... oh my god. What a horny dream._

Suddenly he remembered everything. Amu had left earlier to find something for herself to eat for lunch. Now she must be back. Ikuto frowned inwardly. That dream had seemed so realistic, so blissfull...

... so impossible.

Amu sighed, resuming her spot on the couch in Ikuto's office and putting on another adorable smile. Ikuto smiled at her approvingly.

"Wow," He said. "You're really good at sitting there and looking cute."

Amu frowned.

"Come on," She whined. "Is there anything else I can do other than this? My cheeks hurt from smiling all the time."

Ikuto smirked and leaned in closer to Amu's face. Amu's face turned bright red at the closeness.

"Remember," Ikuto whispered seductively. "You can always strip."

Amu gasped and slapped Ikuto across the face.

"Never in your dreams!" She shouted. Ikuto rolled his eyes.

"Yes," He said in an exasperated tone. "I know never in my dreams. So how about real life?"

Amu turned her head away and pointedly ignored him. Ikuto pouted.

"Come on," He breathed gently onto her ear, sitting close enough next to her on the couch so that their bodies were touching. "I'm your _boss _remember? I tell you what to do. So you can either pick sitting on the couch and looking cute or stripping. Or how about I add a third choice? You can also sit on my lap while I'm working and look cute for me. Your choice..."

Amu shivered slightly. The feeling of Ikuto's warm breath blowing across the side of her face tickled her, both on the outside and in her heart.

"Fine," She grumbled. "I'll stick with the sitting here and looking cute."

She lightly pushed Ikuto off the couch, tilting her head to the side and smiling widely. However, almost instantly, her smile faded away. Amu muttered something unintelligible as she used two fingers to rub her cheek, wincing every now and then.

"Amu?" Ikuto asked anxiously. "Are you okay?"

Amu nodded.

"It's just I've been smiling for hours every day nonstop," She explained. "I wasn't kidding when I told you this was killing my face."

Amu winced again. Ikuto frowned. He didn't realize that teasing Amu like that would hurt her so much.

"Sorry," He mumured, feeling guilty for doing that to her. Frantically, he tossed random thoughts around in his brain to try to cheer her up.

"Hey Amu," He suggested. "Why don't we go somewhere together today?"

Amu's face immediately brightened. Ever since that first date, the two of them had formed a habit of randomly going out to have fun each other whenever Ikuto had some free time. Because of their job, Ikuto rarely had any free time, but when he did, he made sure to spend that time with Amu. Whether it was going to some restraunt or playing around in the park or just running around and chasing each other in Ikuto's office. No matter what it was they did, Amu enjoyed every moment of it. Those times were the reasons she still put up with doing almost whatever Ikuto said asked her to.

"Where?" She asked excitedly. Ikuto smirked.

"I thought your face hurt whenever you smiled," He teased, raising a hand gently stroke Amu's hurting cheek. Amu shrugged, her radiant smile growing by the second.

"It's one thing to force yourself to smile for hours," She said slowly, as if speaking to a five-year-old with learning disablities. "But if you _want _to smile, like when you're happy, then it doesn't hurt as badly."

Ikuto shrugged. The explaination worked for him.

"So where are we going to go?" Amu asked again. Ikuto thought for a moment.

"I have no idea," He said. "Why don't we just go walk around a bit outside and just try whatever seems interesting?"

Amu grinned.

"Works for me," She said cheerfully. She grabbed Ikuto's hand and dragged him out of the building. As they ran out of the large doors that lead to the exit of the building, they didn't notice one of the decorative plants by the door shift slightly in their direction.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Suki sighed in relief. She had almost tripped as she was leaning forward to get a better look at Ikuto.

"I have to find a sturdier plant to hide in..." She muttered to herself. She shrugged. There would always be a next time. She couldn't help but glare at Amu as Ikuto followed the girl out of the building.

_Crap... is there ever a moment where Ikuto isn't with Amu? What do I have to do, go find him when he's in a shower or something?_

Suki sighed. Singers weren't supposed to have perverted thoughts like that. It just wasn't right.

Gingerly, she pulled herself out of the tangle of the thick leaves of the plant. She honestly had to think of better hiding thoughts. Like that tree at the amusement park. It was fairly easy to get up and down from, plus she was well hidden once up there. Hopefully wherever she had to follow Ikuto and his sad excuse for a secretary to there would be many good places for Suki to hide herself.

She cursed the plant under her breath once she finally got herself out, pulling random pieces of leaves out of her hair. That plant was quite disgusting, everytime one of the leaves snapped some juices would ooze out onto her.

Sighing, Suki ran off ito the direction to where she saw Ikuto head off to. Her obsession for him had grown to the point where she couldn't stand any moments awake without him in her view. Just those seconds of getting out of the plant already made her feel weak and vulnerable.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu shivered as she took another sip of her smoothie. Ikuto frowned at her dissaprovingly.

"You're so smart," He said sarcastically. "Ordering a cold drink despite the weather outside. And you're still drinking it!"

He motioned to the pouring rain from the thunderstorm outside the window their table was next to. The two of them were sitting next to each other in a small cafe. Amu shrugged, shivering again.

"Well it didn't start to rain until after I ordered it," She argued. "And besides, it's not like I can just stop drinking it. That would be a waste of money!"

As if right on cue, she shivered again, but still continued sipping the smoothie. Ikuto sighed, taking of the jacket he was wearing and draping it over Amu. Amu refused it, taking it off of her and giving it back to Ikuto.

"You keep it," She protested. "You'll get cold."

Ikuto shook his head, eyeing the hot chocolate he ordered strangely. Suddenly he picked it up with one hand and using the other to pick up one of Amu's hand. He gently pressed the cup to the back of his secretary's hand. Amu gasped.

"It's so warm," She breathed, wrapping her thin fingers around the cup. Ikuto smirked.

"So if you don't want the jacket," He told her. "Then take the drink. I can always order another one."

Amu hesitated. It was already enough that Ikuto forced her into letting him pay for all of this. Just leaving that smoothie out there to waste and getting a second drink would be asking too much of him.

Ikuto smeed to have read Amu's mind. He snorted.

"I'm not stupid," He said scornfully. "I'm not letting that smoothie go to waste."

Amu raised an eyebrow.

"And how do you expect that to work out?" She asked skeptically. Ikuto shrugged.

"I don't know," He said simply. "Maybe we'll be lucky when we're heading back and see a hobo somewhere along the way we can give this to."

Amu laughed. Ikuto always seemed to have a way to answer all her questions, whether those explainations were sensible or not didn't matter to her. She finally gave in, taking the warm drink from him and giving him back the jacket in return.

Ikuto leaned outwards and motioned towards a waitress that happened to be passing by.

"Excuse me," He asked politely. "But could we get another hot chocolate?"

The waitress smiled.

"Sure!" She said, but immediately stopped to stare straight into Ikuto's face. Her eyes soon trailed to the arm that was so casually slung over Amu's shoulder.

"I know you!" She exclaimed excitedly. "You're that Suki singer's ex-boyfriend, aren't you?"

Ikuto flinched at the mention of his old girlfriend. The waitress's mouth formed a small 'o'.

"Ah gomen gomen!" She said. "I forgot that that might've been a touchy subject for you."

"It is," Ikuto mumbled, trying to focus his attention on Amu's pink locks of hair instead of what the waitress was saying.

"Well I'm sorry," The waitress said politely. "I'll go get your chocolate right away!"

As soon as she left, Amu immediately turned her head to study Ikuto's face. There was a bit of sadness in his eyes, mixed in with the lonliness of remembering old, painful memories.

"You going to be okay?" She asked softly. Ikuto didn't say anything. He suddenly grabbed Amu, pulling her into the tightest hug he could manage while still sitting on the cafe chair. Amu slowly returned the hug. All this talk of past loves made her remember Tadase, which still caused her quite a bit of pain whenever the memory returned to her.

The two of them just sat there, silently holding each other until the waitress came back with the hot chocolate. She smiled warmly at the sight of the two of them hugging.

"Is this your new girlfriend?" She asked. Ikuto instinctively pulled Amu closer behind him.

"Yes." He said in a hard tone, ignoring Amu's wide stare. "Is there a problem?"

He was sick and tired of everyone telling him that Suki was much better than Amu whenever he told people that Amu was his new 'girlfriend'. It made him feel rather protective of the pinkette whenever the subject was brought up.

The waitress shook her head, scared of Ikuto's sudden mood change.

"No it's not a problem!" She said, trying to keep her tone cheerful. "I think you two look really cute together!"

Ikuto relaxed a bit.

"Well in that case," Ikuto said, a lot less cautious than before. "Thank you."

The waiter smiled at him.

"I'll be back with your bill in a few minutes, okay?" She said politely. Amu smiled at her shyly and nodded.

As soon as the waitress left, Amu raised an eyebrow at Ikuto.

"I'm your girlfriend now?" She asked. Ikuto shrugged.

"Every now and then it doesn't hurt to tell a small lie, does it?" He replied. The answer seemed to satisfy Amu. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the rest of the hot chocolate Ikuto got her.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Suki glared at Ikuto talking happily with his secretary. She felt her hatred for the little pink-haired girl growing by the second; the brat was stealing Ikuto from her. Her mind filled with ways she could murder the bitch. It had to be painful, yet not able to be traced back to her doing. In the end, her mind clicked with the best idea ever. Suki was proud of herself to think of something that brilliant.

She pulled her hood over her head to disguies her self and motioned for a waiter to come over to her table.

"Excuse me," She said, smiling alluringly. "But how much does this job pay you?"

The man was taken aback for a moment by her smile.

"Um.. well," He began. "Not that much actually... I suggest you don't look for a job here. You're much too pretty for this."

Suki laughed.

"Well," She said in the same tone as before. "How would you like to make five hundred dollars?"

The waiter's eyes widened.

"How?" He breathed. Suki smirked.

"See those two over there?" She asked motioning to Amu and Ikuto, who were currently playing tug-o-war with each other's hair. "When they leave, I'm going to talk to the guy. He has some business he needs to settle with me. And while I'm doing that, I want you to step outside and push the girl down the steps outside as hard as you can. But don't make it look like you did it on purpose, okay? Just accidentaly brush past her or something."

The man nodded excitedly. A chance to make an easy half a thousand dollars didn't come around very often for him. Even if it meant pushing and possibly injuring a cute girl. But the one paying him was even hotter than that.

"I'll do it," He said. Suki smiled again.

"Good," She whispered, handing him the stack of money. "Take this in advance. I trust that you'll do this, and I can't give it to you afterwards since I won't be around, if my plan goes accordingly."

The man nodded again, pocketing the money. He pretended to continue on with his work while still keeping an eye on Amu. That woman he just talked to was strange. But he just got five hundred bucks from her so he didn't mind.

Suki on the other hand, got up and silently slipped out of the restaurant. Once out, she took a big step into the rain, smiling softly as the rain pelted at her and soaked her down to the bone.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto looked at Amu.

"You ready to go yet?" He asked. Amu smiled and nodded. It was nice having another chance to spend some quality time with Ikuto. She decided that she was going to try once again to tell the man how much she loved him. It just couldn't wait any longer.

After paying, the two of them exited the cafe.

"It's raining hard today," Amu commented. Ikuto nodded in agreement.

"Wait here," He said. "I'll go get the car and pull it up here so you won't get as wet."

Just as he was about to leave, he felt something warm squeezing his hand.

"Wait," A soft voice behind him said. Ikuto turned around and saw Amu, clutching his hand in both of hers.

"Ikuto," She whispered, refusing to meet his gaze. "I lo-"

All of a sudden, there was a clap of thunder, once again interupting her confession. The sound of the thunder scared Amu; she jumped into Ikuto's arms. Ikuto wrapped his arms around tightly around her.

"What were you saying?" He asked gently. Amu frowned. She felt her confidence draining once again. She looked around wildly for something else she could tell Ikuto.

"Ikuto look!" She said, pointing into the rain. "There's someone standing out there. She's probably really cold. Do you think... you could go see if she's okay? She probably isn't.. just standing there in the rain..."

Ikuto sighed. That wasn't what Amu said. But he went out there to go see, just because Amu told him to.

Soon he was standing right in front of the girl. Her black hair was dripping around her face and covering her eyes. Her soaking clothes clung on to her body, showing off her slim and perfect figure.

"Ma'am.." Ikuto said slowly. "Are you okay?"

The girl slowly lifted her head to look at him. Ikuto took a step back in shock, but the girl grabbed his wrist to keep him from moving any more back.

"S-Suki?" Ikuto whispered in horror. Suki nodded let out a small cry.

"Ikuto..." She said as she began to sob louder and louder. Her tears mixed in with the rain and she ran and pressed herself to Ikuto, clutching on to him tightly. "Ikuto! You.. you still love me... don't you?"

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**I finished the chapter yesterday. Yet I upload it today. Wonderful me.**

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	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you sylvanicara, Lil-e (pen name: liledormouse), Snowrosex3, EdoPt90, OnlyIkutos413, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, 9996 characters, Natsuya801923, Ren'aiXhakumei, xXLittleMissKissXx, Blue-cat-94, xXLove'n'HateXx, polar the person, Kaggie101, V-Ball Runner, Neji0932, FBGoldfish, Cat, Ikutoluver995, Diabolical Kitustora, laylaromanteslove, Monique2221, BlueAmuto, Animegirl67213, RandomlyBoredWolfy, momo, rushi luvs anime8D, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, THE silVeR m0 onLiGhTSHadow, Random-Bubbles159, Kags21, XxDotheDIRdancexX, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, Kuro Neko-Chan, xhappily-randomx, xxxUtauloverxxx, tiki0112number2, vampireskiss12, Born2beAngel, Your Secret Admirer, and amanda-panda232 for reviewing!**

**I just realized how many of you guys took my offer to send Ikuto to you seriously o_o So many packages... *starts mailing Ikuto clones out to everyone* I can't give him all to you guys at once :) So I'll clone him and keep the original for me to cuddle.**

**Well today's Friday. The last day I'll be able to write before leaving. Hopefully if all goes to plan, then the last chapter before I head off will be uploaded on Saturday. Then I'm gone for until Friday. Probably won't upload on that next Friday or possibly even Saturday D: We'll see.**

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Ikuto stiffened. He had no idea how to answer that. He tried to take another step back, back towards Amu, but Suki tightened her arms around him.

"The truth is," She said softly. "I still love you. When I told you that we couldn't be together anymore... that's what I thought at the time. But when I couldn't stop thinking of you the whole time we were apart... I realized that I still love you. I want to apologize for what I did..."

Ikuto cast an anxious glance in Amu's direction.

"Suki.." He said. "I really have to go back to Amu-"

A slamming door cut him off. Ikuto looked in the direction of the sound. There was a waiter hurrying out of the cafe, frantically shouting on the phone as he was running out. As he passed by Amu, he roughly ran into her, knocking her down. Her foot got caught in the railing by the steps, dragging her down as she fell. Amu screamed as she landed on her back on the wet ground with an audible thumping noise. As the man ran down the steps, he accidentally also stepped on Amu's leg, making the girl let out another yelp.

However, the man didn't stop to help Amu. He just threw a short "Sorry!" over his shoulder before continuing to run off. Suki watched him, a small smile on her face.

_He did his job well._

Ikuto stared at the scene in front of him, eyes wide with horror. Amu's foot was now bent at a really strange, painful-looking angle, and something was probably at least sprained if not broken. She tried to slowly pull herself up, however she collapsed weakly back onto the pavement of the ground when she tried to move that leg.

"Amu!" Ikuto yelled, pushing Suki away from him and making a move to run towards her. But despite Suki being pushed away, she still kept a tight hold on his arm.

"Ikuto-kun," She said innocently, as if Amu wasn't lying on the ground in pain a couple feet away. "I'm cold."

She stared at him, eyes wide and pleading.

"Can you take me somewhere warm?" She asked sweetly. "It'll only take a moment."

"Ikuto..." Amu whimpered, her face twisting in pain. Though Ikuto was still inching towards Amu, Suki smirked at the flicker of hesitation on his face. Her plan was working perfectly.

Both Amu and Suki were asking for the same thing from Ikuto: his loving care and attention. So obviously, whomever he picked first would be the one he cared about more.... at least in their opinions. Only God knew about how Ikuto assessed the whole thing in his mind.

Amu was thinking along the same lines as Suki, for underneath all the pain was a competitive look. Ikuto, on the other hand, was quickly switching back and forth from looking at both girls, one on the ground and the other clinging obsessively to his arm. He looked as if he was about to crack under some kind of pressure.

A pressure he didn't know was actually the extremely real tension between Amu and Suki.

"Ikuto!" Suki whined again. "It's so cold!"

Amu opened her mouth to say something also, but she said it too softly for Ikuto to hear.

Finally the blue-haired man snapped. He grabbed Suki by the wrist, dragging her off in a direction away from Amu. He kept pulling her, ignoring the cries of protest when he tugged too hard. Soon the two of them were in front of his car. Ikuto opened the passenger door side, throwing Suki in and running around to the driver's side to get in.

He floored the gas pedal in an angry manner, speeding back in the direction the two of them came from.

"Ikuto-kun," Suki said, shifting in her seat to lean on Ikuto's arm that was clenched tightly onto the wheel. "Why are we driving this way? We just came from here..."

Ikuto didn't answer her; he just kept glaring at the road in front of him. Underneath that cover, on the contrary, was the feeling of worry and panic.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu blinked, wiping the liquid out of her eyes. Whether it was the rain or her tears she wasn't sure. Ikuto had left her here, taking Suki with him to who knows where.

She tried once again to get up, letting a small cry of pain escape her lips as she tried to move her leg. There was no way she was going to able to get anywhere like this. It hurt too much.

Fortunately, the waitress who had talked to Amu and Ikuto earlier was standing by a window and saw the whole thing. She burst out of the cafe, running towards Amu and helping her back to somewhere dry. The waitress slowly pulled Amu up into a sitting position, allowing the hurt girl to lean on her. She rolled up Amu's pant leg just a small bit, running her fingers gently along her now very swollen ankle.

"Oh my," She said worriedly. "It's hurt pretty badly."

Amu nodded slowly, wincing in pain.

"Honestly," The waitress said disbelievingly. "What was that man thinking? Leaving you alone on the ground like that..."

As if right on cue, a car skidded to a stop right in front of the cafe entrance. Running out of it was an extremely scared looking Ikuto. In an instant, he was kneeling down next to Amu, trying to think of how to pick her up best while inflicting the least amount of pain onto her ankle.

After trying out a variety of different ways to pick up the pinkette, Ikuto finally got her into the car, stretched out on the row of backseats. Just as he was about to open up the driver's side door again to get in, a tap on his shoulder stopped him.

"What?" He demanded in a strained tone. He was sick of women pulling and tugging on him randomly whenever they wanted to tell him something today.

The waitress stood behind him, glaring profusely at him.

"You call yourself that girl's boyfriend?" She spat. "You can't just leave her alone in the rain like that!"

Ikuto sighed.

"Sorry," He said in the most polite voice he could manage. "But now really isn't a good time..."

He cast another anxious glance into the car, where Amu looked like she was falling asleep in the back while Suki glared at her hatefully. It was such a pain for him. Whenever he there were two or more girls in his presence at once there could never be any peace between anyone.

The waitress shook her head, still glaring at him.

"You're a horrible person," She muttered. "No wonder Suki didn't want you as her boyfriend anymore! You don't deserve to be this girl's, either!"

Ikuto flinched again. This woman is never going to stop mentioning Suki and his relationship ever, is she?

"Whatever," Ikuto mumbled, jumping into the car before the waitress could get another word out. He made a mental note to never come to this cafe again. At least until this waitress was long gone.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto pulled the car to a stop in front of Amu's aparment. He turned around to see Amu, sleeping in the back. He smiled at how cute she looked. Sighing, he turned back to look at Suki.

"Stay here," He said, picking up Amu again and carrying her into the apartment.

Suki shrugged. As soon as Ikuto and Amu were out of the car she opened the glove compartment. She figured that if she was alone in his car she might as well snoop around a bit.

She lifted the latch and slowly pulled the door to the glove compartment open. Many pictures poured out of it, scattering all over Ikuto's car. Suki picked up a couple of them, gasping at the content of each of them.

Every single picture was a picture of the pink-haired girl she hated so much. They were obviously taken without Amu's knowing, since none of them had her looking directly at the camera. All the pictures were taken from behind her, next to her, whatever direction it was that she wasn't looking in.

Suki continued pawing through the compartment, desperately looking to see if there were any pictures of her like that in there. There was only one, way in the back. It was probably really old, the edges were wrinkled and the colors were beginning to fade away. She took a closer look at it. It was a picture of her licking a small vanilla ice cream cone on a bench in the park. Suddenly, she remembered when this was taken.

On her first date with Ikuto...

The singer felt tears stinging in her eyes from the memory of it. Ikuto had been so happy back then with her. Just her. Now she had the distinct feeling that her old boyfriend wasn't sure who he loved anymore.

In the end.. it had to be her. It just has to be, right?

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu gasped and her eyes flew open as Ikuto was setting her on the bed. Ikuto jumped slightly, but then relaxed when he saw Amu staring at him with wide eyes.

"You're awake," He said quietly, brushing some pink hair away from Amu's eyes. Amu quickly averted her eyes, staring hard at the carpet of her room in the apartment.

Ikuto placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently, although he already knew the answer. He would never understand the minds of girls, but it didn't take a genius to know that his Amu wasn't very happy right now. And more obviously, it was probably his fault.

Amu shrugged, though it was more like her shoulders went slightly up and then slumped back down uncaringly. Ikuto sighed.

"Fine then," He said simply. "Then I'll just sit here until you tell me what's bothering you so much."

The two of them just sat there, staring at each other silently. Amu shifted her position on the bed slightly, squeaking in pain as her ankle hit the leg of the bed. Ikuto immediately moved closer to her, letting Amu lean on him while he observed her injured foot.

"Ikuto," She gasped, clutching onto his shirt tightly. "Ikut- It h-hurts!"

Ikuto wrapped his arms tightly around her small body, staring at Amu's face worriedly. The poor pinkette bit down on her lower lip hard, as if she was going to start sobbing if she let go. Some tears were already leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

"You sprained your ankle when you fell," Ikuto explained, the hatred for the man who pushed Amu growing rapidly. "And apparently pretty badly, if it hurts you that much."

He leaned over and gently kissed one of the tears that had slid down to Amu's chin. Amu blushed furiously but didn't say anything. Ikuto soon pulled away, placing both hands on Amu's shoulders and staring staight into her honey-colored eyes.

"Now," He said. "Tell me what's bothering you."

Amu didn't answer his question.

"Ikuto..." She whispered. "I just want you to know... that you're a really great person. I mean, you never complain about anything whenever I start crying out of the blue. You're always there when I need someone.. and everything. Just thanks. For existing. And thank kami-san for letting me meet you, Ikuto..."

Ikuto was taken aback. He wasn't expecting Amu, the one he loved, to compliment him so highly.

... and still not continue her confession.

Amu suddenly threw her arms around Ikuto's neck, burying her face into his shoulder.

"And..." She said. "... Can you stay here tonight? Today.. I feel.. I don't know... kind of scared..."

Ikuto softened.

"Of course I will," He said gently. Amu smiled, falling over back onto the pillows.

"Just let me go drop of Suki at her house first," Ikuto told her. Amu's smile immediately faded.

"Oh," She said quietly, turning around on the bed so Ikuto couldn't see her face anymore. Ikuto hesitated, and even considered making Suki sleep instead in his car so he could just stay here, but in the end silently left the apartment.

As soon as Amu heard the door slam behind him, she let out a frustrated sob, using her fist to hit a nearby pillow and letting all her tears fall out as they pleased.

"Ikuto," She murmured, her soft voice barely audible to even herself. "That whole car ride.. I wasn't asleep. I saw how you were acting around Suki. I saw how you were looking at her, not pushing her away when she tried to do something to you. You... you still love her, don't you...? Why...?"

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Suki quickly stuffed all the pictures back into their rightful place as she saw Ikuto slowly walking back. She didn't want to be caught looking through his stuff.

As soon as she saw him get back into the car, she jumped up from her seat and landed on his lap. Ikuto stiffened as Suki wrapped an arm around his neck, the other gently running its fingers through his midnight blue hair. Every time he felt her slender fingers come in contact with his head he would feel a strange tingling in his spine.

"Suki..." He said, a bit confused by her actions. Suki sat up and pressed her face to his ear and began to nibble at it gently.

"I love you," She breathed. "And you love me back, right?"

Ikuto didn't answer. He couldn't even think coherently at the moment. Right now, his mind was full of lustful thoughts about what he and Suki could be doing right now...

He shook his head. This was what Suki did to get the two of them together the first time. He wasn't going to fall for it again.

"Suki," Ikuto said again, a bit of impatience in his tone. "Not now. Can you get off me so I can drive you home?"

Suki shook her head, moving so that she was nibbling on his lower lip instead of his ear. Ikuto dug his fingers into the leather of the seat to keep himself from flipping her over and returning the actions.

"No way," Suki whispered, her lips moving against his. "You used to let me do this all the time while you were driving. Why change anything now?"

Ikuto let out a sigh. Suki smiled triumphantly.

_He's giving in to everything easier than I thought..._

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto pulled the car to a stop in front of Suki's giant house.

"Suki," He said, still sounding a bit annoyed. Whatever it was that Suki was doing to him, it was distracting and keeping him from going back to Amu. "Get off."

Suki looked at him with a pouting face.

"But can't you stay here tonight?" She whined. "I'd love to have you here..."

Ikuto sighed.

"No," He said, though he felt his resolve slowly slipping. Suki had on a face right now that could rival one of Amu's cutest, and... well everyone knows Ikuto can never say 'no' to a look like the one Amu uses.

Suki frowned, climbing off of Ikuto and getting out of the car. But before closing the door, she turned back around.

"Please...?" She begged one more time. Ikuto shook his head.

"No."

Suki frowned again.

"But you still love me, right?" She asked hopefully. Ikuto hesitated.

"I... don't know," He said, and he was telling the truth. He honestly didn't know. What he did know was that he loved Amu, but whether it was more or less than his love for Suki was what was confusing him at the moment. Nothing in his mind made any sense.

Suki nodded slowly, a sad smile creeping upon her face. She bent down and gave Ikuto a lingering kiss.

"Just think about it," The singer said after pulling away and running back into her house.

As soon as she was gone, Ikuto slammed the car door closed and hit his head on the steering wheel. He let out a frustrated groan; everytime he thought about it, it only made him more confused.

_This is one of the rare moments of my life where I actually want my parents to come around and yell at me about what I should be doing next. Because right now, I've got no freaking idea about that._

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto heard a soft sniffling noise as he reappeared in Amu's apartment. Instinctively, he ran into Amu's room, where he saw the pink-haired girl in mind sobbing into her pillow. Though her cries weren't loud, they were strong enough to shake her whole body with every sob. She had changed herself out of her soaking clothes, which were hanging by the door, and into something dry and more comfortable.

"Amu," Ikuto said quietly, quickly walking towards her. Amu looked up at him, her face stained with tears. However, one look at Ikuto caused her sobs to grow even louder.

"Amu!" Ikuto said again, this time in a louder, more panicked, tone. He rushed over to her, holding her tightly and allowing her to cry on him. "What happened?"

Amu only shook her head, refusing to answer the question. Ikuto frowned.

"Is your ankle hurting you that badly?" He asked worriedly. "If it is, we should really get you too a doctor."

"Yeah," Amu whispered. "Can we go like... tomorrow or something? I don't want to go today... it's not like it's killing me or anything."

Ikuto raised an eyebrow at her.

"If it's not bothering you too much, then why were you crying so hard when I came in?" He asked.

Amu shook her head, using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. To be honest, she didn't even know why herself the reason she was crying so hard. But Ikuto suddenly giving that amount of attention to Suki and ignoring Amu had caused her to feel quite hurt, so she blamed it on that.

"It's nothing," She lied. "I just.. fell asleep while waiting for you to come back and had a... bad dream."

Ikuto laughed, holding Amu tighter and patting her hair softly. Amu felt herself begin to relax in his protective hold.

_And then suddenly, I care less about whether it's me he loves more than that Suki. I feel like the pain in my ankle doesn't even matter anymore. I feel like I can worry about all that later, and later isn't right now. Right now, Ikuto's here with me. And when he's holding me I feel like nothing in the world can hurt me...._

_

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**Well that took me less time than normal to write o_o The last chapters have taken me 18+ hours to write.. plus some distraction time. This one took me 12 + distraction time. So now I have six hours to kill and wonder what I'm going to do.**

**And once again :) chapter was done yesterday yet I'm uploading today.**

**If everything goes right, then there'll be... 21 chapters :D So it's ending soon D:**

**... 5OO Reviews? Please?**

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	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you Diabolical Kitsutora, sylvanicara, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Neji0932, Kaggie101, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, Snowrosex3, OnlyIkutos413, Natsuya801923, xxxUtauloverxxx, Kuro Neko-Chan, MaroonAngel of Darkness, RandomlyBoredWolfy, BlueAmuto, rushi luvs anime8D, 76987766554, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, Helapayne, AmutoSparkle, tiki0112number2, FBGoldFish, polar the person, Kags21, Hakumei xo, Ladot, Ikutoluver995, The Dark Violinist, Random-Bubbles159, liledormouse, XYNDiCATE, ^_^ Too Lazy To Log In ^_^, HarunaNiwa073, xhappily-randomx, Your Secret Admirer, ichiruki12741, ChocolatePockyLover, vampirekiss12, kflndfkl, ichika7walkure, xXLove'n'HateXx, Ren'aiXhakumei, and Animegirl67213 for reviewing!**

**Also, thank you for the 5OO+ reviews! It's so nice of you guys to actually follow my demands-- I mean, my **_**requests **_**to review :)**

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Ikuto opened the door to Amu's apartment to find Amu curled up on the couch, staring at the TV in a bored manner. He smiled. The blue-haired man had been visiting her so often, sometimes multiple times in one day, so Amu just decided to give him the spare key. She hated getting up and limping across the apartment just to open the door anyways.

Amu looked up from the TV and saw Ikuto. Her face immediately brightened.

"Ikuto!" She said excitedly. Ikuto smirked, taking a seat next to her on the edge of the couch.

"You missed me?" He teased. Amu flushed and looked away.

"No.. Yes..." She mumbled. "Maybe..."

Ikuto laughed. His gaze traveled to her injured ankle, which was propped up on the other end of the couch by a couple of pillows. They had gotten Amu to a doctor, and sure enough, it was broken. And of course, the only thing you can do while healing is sit around at home and hope for the best.

"How much later until you can walk normally again?" He asked, twirling a lock of pink hair in his fingers. "Work's so boring now that you're stuck at home."

And he wasn't lying. Amu had been out for almost two weeks now, and nothing interesting happened anymore. Other than the Suki popping in every five minutes to flirt with him in an annoying way.

Amu shrugged.

"It's even more boring here," She said, slapping his hand away and shifting her position so that her head was resting her head on Ikuto's lap instead of the couch. "I've been on this couch all day watching nothing but watch horrible shows on TV! It's so sad I have to do something like that!"

Ikuto grinned at her sympathetically, pulling her up so that her head was resting on his shoulder. Amu relaxed for a moment in his arms. Ikuto smiled at her. She was so soft and warm. It was amazing how she seemed to fit perfectly in his lap, as if that spot was just made for her to sit in. Ikuto held her tightly, breathing in her sweet strawberry scent.

"So what's going on at work?" Amu asked, trying to sound like she didn't care. "How's Suki?"

Ikuto froze.

"S-Suki?" He stammered. Amu raised an eyebrow at him and nodded.

"Yeah. Her." She said flatly.

"U-Um... We haven't talked much," Ikuto lied. "I heard she was working on a new song and everything.. so yeah..."

The truth was, Suki had still been talking to him every day. Even more than usual, now that Amu was practically on house arrest. She would be everywhere he was. Heck, she would even wait outside the bathrooms for him.

Amu shrugged; she looked like she believed him. The two of them fell back into silence, just enjoying the other person's presence. Being together like this would always end up in silence. After the first couple minutes of talking, the conversation would just die away and they would sit there quietly. Just sitting there in pure, peaceful silence... while bothering each other.

Amu smiled and suddenly snuggled closer to Ikuto. Ikuto moved so that he was laying next to her on the couch. He slung an arm around Amu's waist, squeezing her like a small child would a giant teddy bear. Amu laughed, the tinkling sound muffled into Ikuto's shirt.

It was funny how to everyone they met they were practically together as boyfriend and girlfriend, minus the kissing and the 'I love you's. In fact, still neither of them had said those three simple yet complicated words to the other yet. Not that neither of them minded. It mattered to them how they treated each other, not what they said. Still, they thought it wouldn've been nice to hear the phrase.

Ikuto closed his eyes, rocking Amu gently in his arms while burying his face into her hair and neck. Amu smiled and held his hands in hers.

Although the back of her mind told her that Suki still had a really good chance, she liked to think that Ikuto liked her better because he would take the time to visit her all the time. The back of her mind wondered if he would still do this once her ankle was well enough for her to go back to work.

After about an hour or so, Ikuto suddenly sat up, startling Amu.

"I should get going now," He said, giving Amu one last squeeze before getting off the couch. "Get better faster."

Amu smiled at him sadly as she watched him leave.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto sighed as he closed the door to Amu's apartment. Holding the pinkette was normally fine, but this time wasn't enough for him. He wanted to tease her. Bother her, make her cheeks turn that really cute shade of bright red again.

But if he did, it wouldn't feel the same. He was so used to doing those kind of things in his office, seating Amu on the couch and begging her to strip. If he tried teasing her at her house... it'd just be too different.

Not to mention the fact that Amu was injured too. She couldn't just jump up and start screaming and slapping him like she normally did. Ikuto guessed he just have to wait it out and hope Amu can go back to work soon.

As he walked towards his car, Ikuto let out a yelp of surprise once he saw who was sitting on the hood.

"Oh come on!" He said in a frustrated tone. "Must you follow me _everywhere_?"

Suki smiled and nodded. She sat cross-legged on Ikuto's car, waving him over. Ikuto walked towards Suki, the only intention in mind was to pry her off his car and speed away as fast as possible. However, as soon as he got there, the singer grabbed the front of Ikuto's shirt, pulling him down ontop of her and wrapping her legs around his waist to keep him from escaping.

"Ikuto-kun," She whined, using one hand to play around with the collar of his shirt. "What were you doing in there? I was sitting out here waiting for you _foreverrrr_!"

Ikuto stiffened as she pulled him down lower, even closer to Suki.

"Come to think of it," Suki whispered. "You haven't told me whether you still love me or not yet..."

Ikuto frowned. Despite all the days flying by, he hadn't really thought about it. Whenever he did, though, it would give him a major headache and he wouldn't be able to think straight for a few hours afterwards. The main reason why Ikuto decided to avoid thinking about that subject most of the time.

"I haven't really thought about it yet," He told her. "Just give me some more time."

Suki pouted.

"You always take too long to think about things," She complained. "Ikuto-kun takes _forever_ to do everything, and then he makes Suki-chan wait _forever _for him!"

Ikuto sighed again.

"Just for the record," He pointed out. "No one asked you to wait. In fact, if I had know this would happen, I would've asked you to _not _sit on my car while waiting for me."

Suki rolled her eyes.

"But Ikuto-kun," She said. "That's what a good girlfriend does! They sit in the cold for their boyfriends to come back and finish whatever it was they were busy doing!"

"Suki," Ikuto said, beginning to sound slightly irritated. "I'm not your boyfriend."

"Yet," Suki corrected him. "You forgot the 'yet'."

Ikuto shook his head disapprovingly. He gave up.

"Can you let go of me now?" He asked. "I need to be getting home."

Suki smiled radiantly.

"Take me home too then?" She pleaded. Ikuto let out another frustrated sigh.

"Fine." He said. "Get in."

Suki's grin grew even brighter as she happily skipped into Ikuto's car.

"Yay!" She cheered to herself. Ikuto muttered something to himself before driving Suki home.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Shaking her head, Amu closed her window curtain as she saw Ikuto bent over Suki on top of his car; the two of them in _that _type of position. Unsuccessfully, she tried to blink away the wetness in her eyes. She didn't want to see anymore than what she already witnessed. It would be too much.

Sighing, she slowly limped back to her bed. She flopped onto her soft sheets, landing with a small 'thump'. She couldn't hold back any longer. The tears fell, spilling one by one onto the pink blankets and pillows.

_Tears.. they're like those words in your heart that you never want to say. As much as you don't want people to know about them, they'll come out all of a sudden for everyone to see and know._

_... maybe then someday Ikuto'll know how much I love and care about him._

**- seven weeks later -**

Amu smiled as she stepped out of her apartment. It had been quite a while since she could get anywhere without Ikuto helping her, so it felt good being able to walk around like this.

Her ankle had almost completely healed during the long period of time. She could walk pretty normal now, it just hurt a tiny bit when she tried to run too fast. Amu shrugged that little part off. It wasn't like she wasn't going to need to run for a while now, wasn't it?

She frowned as she walked by all the shops on her way to work. Apparently Ikuto and Suki's moment on top of the car wasn't the only one seen by reporters. There were so many of those scenes now, all involving Ikuto being in some akward position with Suki.

Amu decided to buy one of those magazines, just for the sake of it. Besides, she could catch up on everything else going on while reading it.

However, although flipping through everything, she immediately turned to the pages about Suki and Ikuto. The latest one had Ikuto picking up Suki, who clung to his neck obsessively. There was a rather large smile on Suki's face, but a perfectly calm, expressionless face on Ikuto.

Amu felt her chest tighten. Whenever she questioned Ikuto about Suki, he would always brush it off by telling her the two of them never talked. Just the occasional 'hi's and 'bye's and some short random conversation when they passed by each other at work. Nothing said about any of this.

She sighed, making a mental note to question Ikuto about this once she got to work.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto let out a groan of frustration, his head resting on his desk. Amu had been out for so long, the only fascinating thing to do around here anymore was to watch a pen roll from one end of the desk to the other. And even that would only hold his attention for about ten seconds.

What bothered him the most was that he hadn't been able to sleep the past couple of nights. There was something on his mind, but he couldn't exactly pin point what it was.

It came in the form of a dream. Ikuto would be alone, in a world of black. Then a blurry figure would appear some distance in front of him, and Ikuto would try to run towards the figure. However, as soon as he reached the point where he could see the person clearly, he or she would vanish, appearing some point behind him. It would continue like that. He would keep running back and forth towards the blurry figure, running fast but not fast enough to catch up.

Whatever it was, it bothered Ikuto. It bothered him that he could never catch up with the person. Never see it clearly, never even be able to talk to it. He felt the need to know who the person was, as if it would be an important piece of his life that he was missing out on right now.

The door to his office suddenly creaked open, disrupting Ikuto from his thoughts. He looked up and saw Suki walking towards him.

"What do you want?" He asked. Suki put on a pouting face.

"What?" She said cutely. "I can't visit the person I love?"

Ikuto stared at her, raising an eyebrow at her outfit. Suki's hair was done nicely like always; the black locks framed her face. But her clothing... well she was in a giant brown jacket.

That was what surprised Ikuto. Normally she would be in something extremely skimpy and revealing, no matter if it was scorching heat out or a blizzard. Ikuto has never, _ever_, seen her in any type of jacket before.

"What's with the jacket?" He asked. Suki smirked.

"Glad you asked," She said. "Because I've got a surprise for you."

Ikuto paled visibly.

"What surprise?"

Suki grinned. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him off his chair, gently throwing him into the corner of his office. Before he could get up, she jumped on top of him, putting one leg and one arm on either side of him so that he couldn't escape. Despite that fact, Ikuto still struggled against her. He knew that he was a lot stronger than her, he could easily pick her up and throw her off to the side. But something inside him didn't want to hurt her... wanted to give her what she wanted.

"Ikuto..." She whispered seductively, kissing his nose and gazing into his eyes in an alluring way. "It's been so long... more than two months is obviously way too long... so long since I told you how sorry I was... Now why won't you tell me that you forgive me?!"

She planted her lips on his, nibbling on his lips, teasing him. Ikuto felt his movements to push Suki off of him slowing, diminishing. Did part of him.. want this too?

The very thought of that horrified him.

Suki finally pulled away and sat up, keeping her legs still seated on either side of him.

"Now for your surprise!" She said happily, pulling off her jacket. Ikuto gasped.

Underneath the jacket was the smallest, tightest, tank top and pair of shorts that he had ever seen. They barely covered anything. And in the way that Suki was curved on top of him, Ikuto had a clear view of everything he shouldn't be seeing otherwise.

"S-Suki..." He whispered. Suki smiled. She took his hand in hers, placing them ontop of her breasts. Ikuto stiffened. He finally realized what she was trying to do to him.

"You like feeling like this, don't you?" Suki purred as she saw the resistance in Ikuto's eyes slowly crumble away. "And Ikuto-kun loves me very much, doesn't he?"

"Suki..." Ikuto gasped. "Not now."

Suki ignored him. She gave him another passionate kiss, pressing his hands more into her breasts. Ikuto finally felt his eyes falling closed as he leaned in, deepening the kiss.

He lost.

Suki smiled and slowly began unbuttoning his shirt.

"I knew I was forgiven," She whispered, unbuttoning the last button and pulling the shirt off of him.

Suddenly, Ikuto heard the door open again and a new set of footsteps.

"Ikuto!" A different voice said. "I'm back!"

Ikuto's almost choked. He could recognize that sweet, innocent voice anywhere.

He heard the footsteps come closer, then stop a couple feet away. Suki's lips still on his, Ikuto looked up with half-lidded eyes at who was standing there. His eyes flew open, widening at who it was.

He had guessed who's voice it was correctly.

Amu stood there, barely breathing as if her whole body just... stopped. Her eyes were wide and horrified as she saw the position the two people in front of her were in.

"Crap..." Ikuto muttered. Suki continued on kissing him as if nothing ever happened.

"Ikuto..." Amu whispered, tears sprinigng in her eyes. "What... what's going on?"

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**Oh god I feel so terrible. This is probably the last chapter I'll be able to upload before disappearing off the face of the Earth until Friday... and I leave a cliffhanger like that. Horrible me :)**

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	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you Blue-cat-94, Pinkiie-Chan, Random-Bubbles159, MaroonAngel of Darkness, xxxUtauloverxxx, xXLove'n'HateXx, Rodriquez Alb. , RandomlyBoredWolfy, MiyakoLikesTacos, Helapayne, tiki0112number2, Neji0932, Ikutoluver, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Kuro Neko-Chan, liledormouse, flingfling-lovespurplexoxoxox, BlueAmuto, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, Kags21, mombofamily, The Dark Violinist, Born2beAngel, Ikutoluver995, AmutoxLover, rushi luves anime 8D, OnlyIkutos413, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, Ladot, xBlackCat, sylvanicara, xXLitleMissKissXx, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, THE silVeR m0 onLiGhTSHAdow, XYNDiCATE, spicygirl27, 9996 Characters, ichiruki12741, polaracebear, kimmy, xhappily-randomx, VcChick, HarunaNiwa073, ichikua7walkure, 9otaku, and Ren'aiXhakumei for reviewing!**

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Amu couldn't help but stare. She felt that she lost the power to do anything else.

So this was heart break. It was like being left alone in the desert at dusk without water or warmth. It left your mouth dry and your will broken. It sapped your tears and made you hollow.

In other words, it felt terrible. Painful, unberable, not a wonderful feeling.

Suki finally ended the kiss, wrapping her arms tightly around Ikuto's neck and turning to smirk at Amu.

"What's happening?" She repeated the horrified pinkette's question. "Well you were disrupting Ikuto-kun and my moment! Shame on you."

Amu frowned.

"Oh," She said emotionlessly, yet her voice still shook quite a bit. "I see. Well sorry..."

Quickly using the back of her hand to roughly brush away some tears, Amu turned on her heel and hurrying out of the office.

"No, Amu!" Ikuto called out, pushing Suki off of him. The singer fell off to the side with a high-pitched "Oh!". Ikuto ignored it.

"Amu!" He yelled again, running after Amu. Ikuto saw her inside the elevator, frantically pressing the button before he could get in. Fortunately, he did manage to get in just as the elevator doors were closing.

Amu refused to look at him, or let him see her face. She didn't want him to see her cry.

Ikuto tentatively reached out an arm towards Amu. Amu slapped it away.

"Don't," She whispered. Ikuto ignored her. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, staring straight into her eyes.

"You have to let me explain," He sad, backing her up against the wall of the elevator with no intentions of letting her go until he was done. Amu glared up defiantly at him.

"You can't make me do anything," She retorted. "I'm not feeling good. So let me go home."

Which wasn't a lie. Her stomach felt awful. She felt her heart drop down there, and now she had a strange urge to throw up.

"You can go home once I'm done explaining," Ikuto pointed out. Amu shook her head, clutching her stomach.

"No," She said. "I can go home whenever I want."

Ikuto shook his head. He was starting to get angry. Amu didn't realize how much he needed to tell her what he had to say.

"I'm your boss," He reminded her. "I can tell you what to do, and you have to do it."

Amu frowned, shaking her head.

"Nope," She said softly. "You're not my boss. Because I quit."

Ikuto jumped back slightly, shocked. He never expected this to happen.

"What... what did you say?" He asked.

"You heard me," Amu said, still quietly but just a tad bit louder than last time. "I quit. I don't work for you or for Easter anymore."

Ikuto felt like he had just been punched in the gut.

"B-but why would you quit?" He asked frantically. He had no idea what he was going to do at work without her anymore, since he was so used to her happy, bubbly presence around him at all times.

Amu shrugged.

"I just don't feel like I can work here anymore," She whispered.

The elevator finally came to a stop on the ground floor. Amu pushed Ikuto away from her, quickly stepping out of the elevator.

"Have fun with Suki," She said, tears now streaming down her face. "I'll be back tomorrow to get all my stuff."

Just as she was about to leave, Ikuto grabbed her hand.

"Look," He pleaded. "If you're not going to listen to anything I have to say, then at least know that I lo-"

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto!"

Ikuto unwillingly pulled his gaze away from a crying Amu and to whoever was calling to him. He saw his step father approaching, looking quite angry.

"Ikuto," He yelled. "You've got a meeting to go to right now! So get your lazy ass over there right now!"

Ikuto sighed.

"Let me finish up here really quickly first," He begged. His step father shook his head.

"There's nothing to be done," He said, smirking. "That sad excuse for a secretary of yours is already gone."

Ikuto's head snapped back around. Sure enough, Amu had managed to escape his hold and run off.

"Amu..." He whispered as his step father dragged him off to the meeting. "I never got to tell you that I loved you..."

_I _will _tell her tomorrow. Whether she wants to hear it or not. She's going to know._

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto collapsed on his bed, even more confused than ever. In a couple of days, Amu would be out of his life forever. And now he felt horrible about it.

All this thinking was making his head hurt again. He felt his eyelids droopin again, and then before he knew it he was asleep.

_Ikuto found himself once again in that world of black._

_"Neh, Ikuto!"_

_Ikuto whipped around, and saw Amu standing some feet away, smiling and waving him over._

_"Ikuto over here!" The smiling pinkette said again. Ikuto smirked, running towards her. As soon as he was in front of her however, Amu vanished._

_"IKUTO!" She screamed. Ikuto turned around and saw her behind him a distance away. "Ikuto! What are you doing over there? I'm over here!"_

_Ikuto shook his head, heading back in the direction Amu was standing in._

_"Ikuto!" Amu shouted in a more angry tone, this time from a different direction. "Stop going in all the wrong directions!"_

_Sighing, Ikuto walked in the direction that this Amu was standing in._

_"Ikuto!" Amu sobbed, one again in some random direction. Ikuto turned around. This Amu had tears streaming down her face._

_Maybe it was the fact that this Amu was crying, Ikuto wasn't sure, but he sprinted to this one. However, when he got to this one, Amu didn't disappear. Ikuto picked her up, holding her gently in his arms._

_"Amu," He said in a soothing tone. "Don't cry. Why are you crying?"_

_Amu sobbed into his shoulder._

_"Because you don't love me!" She cried. "It's always Suki this and Suki that!"_

_Ikuto tightened his arms around Amu._

_"What are you talking about?" He asked gently. "I love you too."_

_Amu shook her head._

_"Then why'd you let me leave like that?" She asked._

_Suddenly Ikuto was surrounded by Amu's, each one wearing a different expression. Her smiling face, her bright laugh, her cute pouting face, her truly angry face, her bored face..._

_... and her hurt, tear stained face._

Ikuto woke up with a start, sitting in his bed and gasping for air.

"Amu..." He panted. "I'm... sorry..."

He flopped backwards onto his bed again, his ragged breaths beginning slowing. He had to let Amu know everything tomorrow. He had to.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto rushed into work the next morning, way beyond desperate. He wanted to get there before Amu, so he could just sit there and wait for her to show up. That way he had no chance of missing her when she came to get her stuff.

However, when he walked into where Amu worked, he was shocked. The playce was... _empty. _It was completely cleared of anything personal that belonged to Amu. The only things left there were the table and chair that came with the place, along with a stray pen and paperclip or two that Amu must've forgotten to take with her.

_I.. don't get it. She told me she'd be here today... unless by "today" she meant really early today..._

Ikuto sank into the chair in the middle of the place. He needed a moment to think everything through before he decided to burst into some place just to find out that Amu wasn't there anymore.

One of the other workers passed by.

"Um.. excuse me?" She asked, sticking her head in and looking at Ikuto. "You're looking for Hinamori-san, right?"

Ikuto's head snapped up. He nodded vigorously.

"Do you know where she is?" He asked hopefully. The woman nodded slightly.

"She was in here cleaning everything up a couple hours ago," She told him. "And she was talking about moving somewhere...? I didn't really catch where, but for sure she said she's moving."

Ikuto jumped off the chair in alarm. He ran off, brushing past the worker and heading out the building as fast as he could. He didn't even bother waiting for an elevator, at the speed he was going just taking the stairs would be a whole lot faster.

Ignoring his car sitting there in front of the building, he continued sprinting all the way to Amu's apartment. She was only in the office a couple of hours ago, there was no way she could've packed up all her stuff at home and took off in that time.

... Unless of course she packed everything up at home _before _she took everything from work. But Ikuto tried to think it wasn't like that.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto arrived to find that the door to Amu's aparment was closed. He knocked on the door.

"Amu!" He yelled."Open up!"

No response. After knocking a couple more times and getting no response, he began to jiggle around at the doorknob. It clicked open after a few seconds.

The door swung open, revealing a completely empty apartment. There was nothing. Literally. Everything was gone, excluding the floor boards and the walls. And this small envelope in the middle of the bare floor.

Curious, Ikuto picked up the envelope. It felt kind of heavy, weighing a bit more than the average letter. He thought he'd start by pulling out the piece of paper, written on in Amu's small, neat handwriting, and reading it.

_Ikuto:_

_Everyone experiences a fall, sadness, and heartbreak one in their lifetime. But normally that person must fight for their own happiness and should never give up. However, I'm not going to do that._

_The truth is, I've only been lying to myself this whole time. I kept telling myself that you were over Suki, that you were ready to let in someone new. Someone like me. But, all lies come to an end. When I saw you and Suki doing... _that_ earlier, and I saw how happy you looked with her ontop of you, I realized that you were not yet over her. That you might have still loved her._

_Of course, I'm not saying that I was happy with all of this. Even now, I still can't stop thinking about you. Right now, as I'm writing this, the apartment is already empty. I had all my things packed and sent off to a friend of mine who offered to hold it all for me until I find a new place to live. _

_Whatever. I'm getting off topic again. Back to what I meant to tell you. Whenever I was around you, I always felt like that you knew me as who I was. Understood me. But now I know I was wrong. If you had really understood me, then why did you have to go and turn my world upside-down? You were that one person in my life who was always there for me whenever I needed someone. You were the one who wouldn't mind if I sat there, crying on your shoulder for hours at a time._

_But now, because of you, I live my life without your light. Without anyone there to catch me when I fall. Without someone who will always be there to tell me everything is okay. Every day is probably going to be harder to live through without relieving my painful memories of us. But I think I can handle it all now. Even without you, life will go on unrelentingly. There's no more time to linger on the hopes of meeting each other again._

_Every end leads to another beginning. Let's hope for the best._

_And I'm not stupid. I've seen those movies before. The ones where the girl falls in love with the guy, but the guy loves a different girl. The first girl always ends up on her knees, begging and crying for the guy to love her back. I don't want to be like that. At the end of the story, I still want to have my pride. I could've continued living in my lie, continued telling myself that I was the only important thing in your life, but both you and I know that that's something I can't do. _

_So I'm saying goodbye for the last time. Don't bother coming or looking for me; I have no idea where I'm going either. I'm just going to go to the airport and hop onto the next plane I see, hoping for the best._

_Forget about it. Forget about everything, because I'm already taking my first steps._

_One step away from the memories.  
Another step away from the bitter feelings._

_Every step might be small, but they all have their special meaning._

_And what's my special meaning? The one phrase I've been meaning to tell you since that day. That day we were stuck together at the top of the ferris wheel. The date we went on on your birthday._

_Tsukiyomi Ikuto, I love you. I have loved you, and despite all the pain this is going to cause me, I always will continue loving you. But don't worry about me. Do what makes _you _happy. Go get back together with Suki or something and try again. You never know, the first time might not work out but the second time is a new start. It might actually become something special._

_Don't forget. I'm doing this all for you. Everything is for your sake. Remember me. You don't even have to love me. Just remember this time I was here, as your secretary. All the fun we had together. All the times you begged me to strip, our first kiss, the times when people would mistake me as your girlfriend. Remember._

_~ With Love,  
Hinamori Amu_

_P.S. In the envelope is the lock necklace you gave me. I thought you might as well have it back, since you already have the key. Go give it to that special person. I'm not keeping it because I know I'm not that someone. Have a nice life._

Ikuto gaped at the letter and the envelope. He couldn't believe it. Amu was gone from his life. Forever. And he didn't even get to say one word to her.

He scanned the letter again, and noticed that there were wet splotches here and there on the edges of the paper. Amu must have been crying when she wrote this.

Ikuto subconsciously let his fingers slide towards the spots, lingering on their wetness. That's when he realized something. That the spoltches of tears were still wet. They weren't dried up yet.

They were still fresh. That meant the letter was written not too long ago.

... Which means Ikuto still has one last shot at finding Amu. At the airport.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto was completely out of breath by the time he reached the airport, but he didn't mind. He had to find Amu.

The blue-haired man frantically ran around the large building structure, thinking of nothing but finding his little pinkette. He ran through everywhere, ignoring the shouts of the workers as he went to the places you weren't supposed to be in without buying a ticket.

At last, he finally saw her. Amu seemed to be the last one getting on the plane; there was no one else around as she walked through the gate.

"Amu!" Ikuto called out. Unfortunately, this was when the airline workers and security finally managed to catch up with him. Ikuto felt many pairs of hands grab him and attempt to drag him off.

"You're not supposed to be here," A woman told him coldly. Ikuto spun around and looked at them pleadingly.

"No wait!" He said, pointing at Amu. "You see that girl with the pink hair? Yeah I need to talk to her really quickly. I swear it'll take no longer than ten seconds..."

The woman glared at him.

"No," She said flatly. "Sir, I can't make any exceptions."

Ikuto leaned in closer to her, his midnight blue gaze melting her irritation.

"Please?" He whispered, his expression taking on a seductive smirk. "It'll only take a second of your time..."

The woman took a wobbly step backwards, gasping for breath for a moment.

"S-Sure..." She breathed, motioning for one of the other workers to go get Amu. Ikuto grinned to himself. It worked everytime.

"Thanks," He said softly, giving her a soft kiss on the top of her head. The woman slapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming while she jumped up and down. Ikuto straightened himself up, returing his focus to Amu.

He saw the worker talking to Amu, motioning in Ikuto's direction every now and then. Amu turned her head to where the worker was pointing to, and her whole face lit up when she saw Ikuto, standing there smirking at her. Her smooth face broke into a wide smile, but then almost instantly, it faded away into a look beyond hurt. Ikuto began to panic as he saw Amu shake her head and continue walking through the gate.

The worker walked back to the scene.

"She looked so eager to come talk to you at first," He told them. "But then she saw something over here and ultimately decided on not coming."

Ikuto felt all the life being sucked out of him.

"Why?" He managed the choke out. Why would she not want to come talk to him?

He began to look around for the reason. And then he saw it smack in the middle of his line of vision.

"Ikuto-kun!" Suki shouted, skipping towards him. "So what are you doing today? Do you have any free time? Can we go somewhere today?"

Ikuto glared at her. Amu wasn't going to come, not with Suki standing here to hear the whole thing/

"Get off of me," He muttered, shoving her to the side gently. Suki stood there, a hurt look on her face.

"Ikuto-kun," She pouted. "That's mean. You forgave me, so you should spend some time with me."

Ikuto sighed.

"No one said I forgave you," He snapped. "You made that up yourself."

Feeling like he needed to go home and lie down to think for a bit, he slowly headed out of the airport.

"Well," Suki called out behind him. "When you're ready, call me and maybe we can do something together!"

Ikuto didn't plan on taking up on that offer.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Yoru stared up at Ikuto, concerned that his owner was neglecting both of them like this. Ikuto hadn't left his spot on the bed for three whole days. Not to eat, not to answer the door or the phone whenever Suki decided to try to come bug him, not to go to work. It was as if Ikuto had given up on everything in his life. In fact, Ikuto was still in the exact same clothes he wore since that horrible day.

Ikuto had come home that day at the airport, seriously mad. He had locked himself in his room, not even letting Yoru in as he let out his anger by punch the wall a couple of times. However later on, Ikuto felt guilty and decided to let his cat back in.

Even after that, though, Ikuto was still quite angry and disappointed in himself.

No matter what or how hard his situation was, Amu never left his side. She loved him at his worst. Suki had him at his best. Where was Suki when he needed someone to help him out when he felt that he lost everything? Wait, scratch that. Suki was the one who _caused _that feeling of losing everything.

And yet when it was all coming to an end, he still picked Suki. Now, he regrets that choice, but he knows that there's nothing he can do about it. It's too late.

He knows that Amu is somewhere out there in the world. He also knows that she's probably hurt and broken again, just the same as when Tadase broke up with her.

The only difference is this time, Ikuto knows he has no one else to blame for breaking her except himself.

* * *

**FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO NEVER READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTES, READ THIS ONE:**

**I'm going to be out of town until Friday. I won't have any start on the next chapter until then. So I'm setting up a deal with you guys.**

**- 6OO reviews by the time I get back  
+ a decent amount of votes on the poll on my profile page ("Which story should I do next?")**

**If both of those are done by the time I get back, I swear to God (and I'm Christian, so that actually means something) that I'll try even harder than I normally do for my chapters. Like I said a couple of chapters ago, the average chapter takes me 18+ hours. I'll try to work on it even longer than that... if that's even possible :) I really want those reviews and votes.**

**So please? And no more asking for anymore reviews before I leave, since I'm already running _really _late and**** I have to get my butt out of the house.**

**You know if you press this button and leave a very nice review then all your wishes will come true... maybe. Not really. But just click it anyways :D**

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	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you MaroonAngel of Darkness, xXLove'n'HateXx, liledormouse, flingfling-lovespurplexoxoxo, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, mombofamily, FBGoldfish, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, Neji0932, Pinkiee-Chan, V-ball runner, rushi luvs anime8D, RandomlyBoredWolfy, xhappily-randomx, Random-Bubbles159, xxxUtauloverxxx, sylvanicara, Helapayne, Ladot, Diabolical Kitsutora, colourful gurl, 9996 characters, Loco_Roco_ Doosh, me me, Born2beAngel, VcChick, OnlyIkutos413, kimmy, Snowrosex3, xBlackCat, Kuro Neko-Chan, polaracebear, prettychinese15, Blue-Cat-94, Viladven, Ikutoluver995, jrfjjf, Kimsille, Ren'aiXhakumei, BlueAmuto, tiko0112number2, LadyofNemesis, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Sakura, Kags21, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, XYNDiCATE, ichika7walkure, shakugan-chara, amuto fan, Amuto20174, smrtangel, ichiruki12741, Midnite Neko, The Dark Violinist, Thy_Amuto, VLLEYSK8ERCHERRYGIRL01, Kaggie101, HarunaNiwa073, insulife, Push Suki off a Bridge :), Animegirl67213, Miki-Chann, A-Shadow-Of-A-Doubt, amanda-panda322, mangafan15, bookwoooooorm=D, Yuki-ChanX3, spicygirl27, xXbunnyholicXx, mabbi, Samsafanfic, and Mara for reviewing!**

**Well anyways. That week away was a waste of my life. I ended up hurling multiple times during that.. I blame the food. I think cat food would've tasted better than that fcking bullshit. And I can't believe I'm even still awake to do this. I felt like going to sleep and dying ages ago. Even though it's been a few days since then, I'm still a bit tired. Going to sleep at two in the morning and then waking up again at seven everyday for a week just doesn't work out for me.**

**CHAPTER 43 = LOVE. Read it or I swear I shall bite your sad little head off :3  
And also go listen to the character CD :) I'm kind of disappointed with Ikuto's song though... it doesn't sound like him very much :\ Maybe because Ikuto's character just wasn't made to be singing... But Utau and Amu made up for that :D**

**And for those of you who have watched the movie ****_1OO Days With Mr. Arrogant_, the ending to this story is pretty similar to the beginning of that movie. The can hits head thing :3 I loved that movie, even though the ending made no sense XD**

**Anyways... thank you guys so much for all those reviews! It's the most I've gotten. Ever. *Hugs everyone***

* * *

**- two years later; early December -**

Ikuto glared at the papers in front of him with extreme distaste. This small stack in front of him was what was keeping him from finding Amu. Groaning, he leaned back in his chair, his head tilting backwards as he closed his eyes for a moment. He hated having this kind of stuff get in his way.

After a couple of weeks of moping, Ikuto decided that the best thing to do was to find Amu. He dedicated all his time to that cause, rarely doing anything else... in fact he would only sleep for a couple hours a week; the bare minimum to stay alive.

But his step-father, who had found about how much time Ikuto was using to search for his secretary, decided to give the blue-haired man a mini "promotion". And along with all the new luxuries of a promotion, like more workers to order around and a bigger office, there were also always a downside: more work.

Not that it bothered Ikuto that much. Apparently it only mattered to his step-father whether Ikuto himself went out to search or not. It was completely fine for Ikuto to make it some of his workers' full time jobs to find Amu. Though Ikuto would much rather have the satisfaction of knowing that he could find Amu himself, this newfound trick still helped him out a lot.

As for Suki, Ikuto never talked to her much again. In fact, he made a point to arrive and leave work during the most inconvenient times for the singer so that there was a lesser chance of the two of them running into each other. Sometimes, however, they still would meet. And like always, Suki would try to seduce him again. And sometimes Ikuto might not be able to resist hard enough and the singer would get her way sometimes. But that flashing, painful memory of Amu's hurt face would make it's way into the center of Ikuto's mind, and he would always find some excuse to get away from Suki.

A sharp knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Ikuto quickly sat up straight and pretended to look over the papers in front of him.

"Come in." He said boredly. The door creaked open, and a man slipped in; a small folder tucked under his arm.

"Sir," He said. "We found out where Hinamori has been staying."

Ikuto blinked. He couldn't believe it. Should he? Was this the truth, or was it all some kind of cruel, sick joke that someone decided to play on him?

The man silently handed him the folder. Ikuto opened it and gasped slightly. The folder was filled with all the information that Ikuto needed. Amu's new adress, her phone number, the location of her current job, _everything_.

As if Ikuto needed more proof, there was a small picture paper-clipped to the corner of one the papers. It was a pretty recent picture of Amu, who was still completely oblivious to the fact that she was getting her picture taken as she flipped through a menu in a restaurant. Ikuto's eyes immediately softened as he recognized her as the secretary who quit because of that one huge mistake all those years ago.

Amu's bright pink hair and honeycomb eyes still made Ikuto's heart skip a beat as they stood out from the crowd, although her hair had been grown up a bit longer, past her shoulders; and her eyes had lost their childish, playful shine. Instead, they were replaced by a more dull shade, a look that told the world that the person with those eyes had given up on everything in their world.

... And that would be no one but Ikuto's fault.

"Great..." He whispered, half to the confused worker standing there and half to himself. "This is so perfect..."

Ikuto closed his eyes and smiled softly as he slouched onto the chair. Even if Amu hated him and didn't want him to find her, at least he had the comfort and satisfaction of knowing that she was alive and alright.

"Um... Tsukiyomi-san..." The worker asked tentatively. "If you don't mind me asking.. why do you want to find this girl so bad...?"

Ikuto jumped slightly, startled at how bluntly the question was put. He turned to give the worker a hard stare.

"It's none of your business," He said in a tone that was a bit colder than necessary. "Now go. I'll make sure you get paid a bit extra for finding this."

The worker brightened visibly at this and left the office without a word. Ikuto's fingers began subconsciously stroking the small photo of his loved one.

_Amu... I'm coming for you..._

**- Christmas Eve -**

"Have a nice Christmas holiday!" Amu cheerfully said to the customer as she placed the money into the cash register. The customer smiled as she picked up the box holding a nicely decorated cake and left.

"Thank you so much for offering to work today," A voice behind the pinkette said suddenly, startling her. "I never knew it would be so hard running a bakery that would still be open up until the last day before a holiday!"

Amu turned around and smiled at her boss, who returned the happy expression. Although she had been working here almost ever since she left Ikuto, she still had a hard time thinking of this person as her boss. In her mind, Tsukiyomi Ikuto would always fit the "boss" image, not some woman named Fujisaki Nadeshiko who ran a bakery.

"At least you're here," Nadeshiko continued. "Just because Christmas is tomorrow doesn't mean the amount of customers is any less than normal."

Amu laughed.

"I'm just glad I can help," She said. "It's fun working here anyways."

Nadeshiko shrugged as she walked toward the door, flipping the 'open' signed so that it said 'closed'. Amu raised an eyebrow.

"We're closing so early?" She asked with disbelief. During the previous years, even during special occasions, the small bakery never failed to open and close at it's normal times. Why should this year be any different?

Nadeshiko looked a bit uncomfortable with the question.

"Actually, Amu..." She said slowly. "We're closing the bakery. For good."

Amu gasped.

"B-But why?" She asked. Nadeshiko shook her head sadly.

"Even though we get a good amount of customers each day," She explained. "It's still not enough to keep this place running. For some reason nowadays, the bills are a lot more than they were when I first opened this place up, and there isn't enough money to pay for them anymore. I'm going to have to close the place down."

Amu frowned.

"Oh..." She said softly. "I'm going to miss working here..."

Nadeshiko smiled and gave the pinkette a reassuring hug.

"You're a great person," She assured her. "Both as a worker and as a friend. You'll probably find another job that can pay even more in no time."

Amu flinched. A worker and a friend... it reminded her so much of Ikuto, and how the two of them were "co-workers", but would normally spend more time fooling around together than actually working.

She stood up suddenly, a burning pain in her heart beginning to grow at the memory of the blue-haired man. She wanted to get out of here before the pain grew even unbearable. Get to some place where she could be alone and cry her heart out without anyone staring or questioning her about it. The whole aspect of crying over Ikuto still, after all the years, was pretty unbelieveable to Amu. She hadn't seen anything about him and Suki ever since she left, so she assumed the two of them were really avoiding each other.

"Then I'll get going now," She mumbled, quickly stepping out of the bakery. She had a feeling this day was just going to go downhill from here.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto let out a frustrated sigh as he rolled down the window of his car, taking another hopeful glance outside for any signs of Amu. He had been in the town specified by the papers for a couple of weeks now, and yet he hadn't seen his former secretary anywhere.

He had asked locals of the small town if Amu was really indeed here, and sure enough, everyone has heard of or been around her bubbly presence at some point. Just Ikuto could never see her. It was as if Amu's instincts made her subconsciously avoid Ikuto at all costs. Whatever it was, Ikuto didn't like it.

"So Ikuto," A voice said. "What are we doing here?"

Ikuto turned around, yelping loudly when he saw Suki crouched in his back seat.

"Suki?!" He yelled, stomping on the breaks and pulling the car to a stop. He didn't care that they were stopped in the middle of the road; it was a pretty empty road anyways. "What the f*cking hell are you doing in my car?!"

Ikuto was shocked at himself. He rarely used language like that.

Suki smiled, leaping over to sit on him.

"Suki-chan's been really busy lately," She said innocently. "So she thought she'd take a small break from everything to visit Ikuto-kun!"

Ikuto made a face. Of all the time in the world, she had to come visit him _now_.

"Suki..." He said through his teeth. "Get off me. Now."

Suki, afraid of his sudden mood-change, opened the car door and stepped out.

"Ikuto-kun's in a really bad mood," She commented, extending an arm to stroke his midnight-blue hair. "So Suki should stay here and help to make him feel better!"

That gave Ikuto a sudden idea. He eyed a trucking that carried packages that were to be delivered. He grabbed Suki's small hand in his, pulling her towards the truck.

"Where are we going?" Suki asked, a bit confused. Ikuto smirked. He stopped in his tracks, turning around and leaning in closer to the singer's face.

"You're right. I have a bit of a headache today, which would explain me being mean. So here's how I'm going to make up for it. It's a surprise from your Ikuto-kun," He lied, looking straight into Suki's eyes and making her loose her balance for a moment. "So just go along with it, will you? You don't want to make Ikuto's life any harder..."

Suki smiled.

"N-no," She stammered. "I don't want to make anything difficult for Ikuto-kun..."

Ikuto grinned.

"Good," He whispered seductively. "So you're not going to ask any questions or throw any of your cute tantrums, are you?"

"N-No..."

"That's my Suki," He said, forcing some love into his tone. Every word coming out of his mouth reminded him of Amu, and that amount of pain inside of his heart just wouldn't work with him right now. But it was all necessary to get Suki away from him whenever he found Amu.

Ikuto continued pulling Suki towards the truck. They arrived just as the man was stepping out of the vehicle.

"Wait here," Ikuto said to Suki, running towards the man holding some packages from the truck.

"Excuse me," He said quietly to the man, pulling out a few hundred dollar bills from his pocket. "I'll give you... one thousand dollars if you take that girl over there" He motioned towards Suki. "And drive her back to Tokyo. You can just kick her off in front of Easter's building."

The man eyed the wad of money in Ikuto's hand hungrily and nodded as he snatched the money. Ikuto smirked, and waved an arm for Suki to come closer.

"Now Suki," He instructed. "This nice man over here is going to take you to... _our _special place, okay? So don't complain or cause him any trouble as he's driving. Ikuto will be there a bit later, since he still has to get a few presents for Suki-chan."

Suki's eyes widened.

"We have a special place?" She asked hopefully. Ikuto smirked and nodded. "Where?"

"It's a surprise," Ikuto lied. The only way that would work out was that if an office building was special in any way. Which it wasn't. Not that it mattered. All Ikuto needed was for Suki to believe it.

Suki smiled brightly.

"Yay!" She said cheerfully, skipping into the truck. Ikuto smirked as he watched it drive away.

_What an idiot..._

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu glared at the snowy ground as she trudged back to her apartment. It was cold out, she had no job anymore, and Ikuto wouldn't leave her mind for some reason.

Today just wasn't Amu's day. She was sure of it.

She regretted her decision of leaving Ikuto immensely, since she never let him really finish what he was trying to say. What if it was something important? What if it was a logical and believable explanation for what she saw in the office? What if it was... an apology?

Amu quickly wiped the tears away. It's too late now. She can't go back. And not just because she didn't have the money to afford a plane ticket and someone to move all her stuff anymore.

Even if she did go back, it wasn't like she could expect Ikuto to find her and welcome her back with open arms. It had been almost three years for God's sake. If anything, her previous boss would just ignore her existence completely. He was probably somewhere, happy and content with Suki. Amu didn't want to risk going back and find the two of them making out again. It caused her so much pain last time she witnessed that...

As she walked through one of the emptier parts of town, she noticed a small can lying on the ground. Amu picked it up and examined it.

_People shouldn't litter like this... I blame Global Warming on them._

She eyed the can. Maybe she could have a little fun, take out her anger and frustration, on the poor can. She placed it back on the ground, standing it up straight. Then Amu jumped up, stomping on the can and flattening it into a perfect disk. She took a step back, admiring her work.

Amu gave the now flattened can a strong kick. She looked up, smiling slightly as she watched it soar through the air.

_So pretty..._

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto was pissed. Very pissed. So angry to the point where he would probably crush the next thing he laid his fingers on. He had searched everywhere in the main parts of the town. In fact, he even tried Amu's house, but sadly no one was there.

He made another turn, driving into a practically empty street. The only hints of life he saw around were the occasional tree and maybe a person or two rushing home before the holidays.

His eyelids drooped slightly as he fell forward in his seat. He was hungry. He was cold, the downside of getting a convertible in the middle of a snowy winter... and then _accidentally _breaking the roof. He was angry. And he was tired; barely sleeping a couple minutes ever since he arrived in the town that Amu lived in. Ikuto had to rely purely on caffine and his love for the pinkette to keep himself awake at this point.

... Although now, even that isn't working out that great for him. Right now, he was ready to just drop down anywhere and sleep.

Ikuto leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes. He shivered slightly from the snow lightly falling ontop of him, but was so exhausted that he barely noticed it at all.

"Maybe if I took a small, five minute nap..." He whispered to himself as his body fell slack in the car. Ikuto was asleep within moments.

After about five minutes, he was awoken by something small and sharp hitting him on the head. Ikuto jumped up, startled. His foot slipped and accidentally pressed the gas pedal, sending the car speeding out of control. Though he tried his best to stop the car, Ikuto still ended up getting his car slammed into the wall of an abandoned warehouse.

Ikuto looked around wildly to see what might have caused this. He saw a small, flattened can laying next to him. Picking it up, he examined the edge of it.

_So... this stupid can caused me to total the front of my car...?_

Ikuto jumped up and looked to see who hit him with the can. There was nobody around, except for one girl slowly walking by herself down the empty road. Ikuto couldn't recognize her, her hood had been pulled up so he couldn't see her face.

"Hey, you!" He called out at the girl. The girl ignored him and kept walking.

Frustrated, Ikuto ran out of the car and chased the girl. Now that his car was damaged, it would slow down his search for Amu. Which was no help to his already bad mood.

The girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Me?" She asked quietly, pointing to herself. But she refused to meet his gaze as she kept her face hidden in her hood. Ikuto glared at her and nodded.

"Yes, you!" He said harshly. He showed her the can. "Did you throw this?"

The girl thought for a moment, and then shook her head.

"Nope," She said dryly. "I kicked it."

Ikuto sighed.

"Whatever!" He yelled. "Well you're 'kicking' did _that_ to my car!"

The girl shrugged.

"Well sorry," She said quietly, turning around to leave again.

"No." Ikuto said firmly. "Not 'sorry'. You're going to have to pay for that, you know?"

At this, the girl broke off into a full run.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu ran as fast as she could away from the man. Of course, she was extremely sorry that she damaged his car to that extent, but there was no way she was going to be able to pay for it. There were giant dents and scratches all over the front of the car; it would probably take hundreds if not _thousands _of dollars to pay for all of it.

And that amount was something that Amu didn't have. She had no more job, and she still had to pay for necessities like food and apartment rent. She just didn't have the money to pay this guy for his car.

So her solution was to run. Run like she never did before, and maybe outrun the guy.

"Get back here!" The man yelled, but Amu ignored him and kept running. She could hear him chasing after her, and used all her energy to keep going.

Amu finally stumbled and fell as the man jumped on her and tackled her to the ground. Luckily, her fall was cushioned by a thick layer of snow, but that still didn't help with the amount of trouble she was in right now.

"Gomenesai! Gomenesai!" Amu sobbed over and over again, sitll refusing to look at the guy. "It was an accident! I'm really really sorry!"

"Yeah," The man said sarcastically, standing up. He grabbed Amu's hood and roughly pulled it off her head, gasping at who it was.

"Amu..." He whispered, his grip loosening instantly. Amu finally turned around to slowly look at him. Her eyes widened.

"I...I-Iku...to?!" She gasped. Ikuto nodded and dropped down on his knees next to her.

"Ikuto I'm so sorry!" Amu cried, throwing her arms around him. "I'm sorry for ruining your car! It's just that I can't pay for it right now...a-and-"

"Amu." Ikuto interupted her. "You shouldn't be apologizing."

Amu looked up at him, confused.

"B-But I damaged your car...." She trailed off. Ikuto wordlessly pulled a small envelope out of his pocket, handing it to Amu.

"Don't apologize for anything," He said softly. "It'll make me only feel worse."

Amu was beyond confused at this point. She took the envelope, opening it up. Inside was a folded, worn-out piece of paper. The creases were very distinct, along with may wrinkles and accidental rips. It was as if the paper had been unfolded and folded many times, the content being read very often.

She gasped again. It was the letter, the same letter that she had left for Ikuto that day she left.

Had Ikuto really bothered to keep it after all these years?

Amu noticed that scrawled on the bottom, in a handwriting completely different from her own, there was a small section of words written. It looked a lot like.. Ikuto's handwriting.

(A/N. _Italics are Amu's handwriting. _**Bold is Ikuto's.**)

_P.S. In the envelope is the lock necklace you gave me. I thought you might as well have it back, since you already have the key. Go give it to that special person. I'm not keeping it because I know I'm not that someone. Have a nice life._

**P.S.S. Still in the envelope is the lock I gave you. Take it back since I still have the key. I'm doing exactly what you said to do: give it to that special person. Keep the necklace because that person is you. So if you want me to have a nice life that badly, then I need you with me. You don't understand how sorry I am, how much I wished I could have rewinded time and avoided the whole thing... how much I love you.**

Amu blinked a couple times, not believing what she was seeing.

"Amu?" Ikuto asked, a nervous look beginning to fill his features as he watched the unmoving pinkette next to him. "Are you okay?"

"What you wrote..." Amu whispered. "Did you really... mean that? Is everything there true?"

Ikuto nodded, placing an arm on Amu's shoulder. Amu was silent for a few more moments. Then she suddenly broke into a round of new, louder sobs. IKuto grabbed her and pulled her into another warm embrace.

"Amu," He said soothingly. "Don't cry..."

Amu ignored him and continued crying. The two of them just sat there in the snow, silently appreciating the other's presence, when a strong wind blew past them. Amu felt her teeth chatter at the cold.

"You're cold," Ikuto whispered into her hair. "You're shivering."

Amu was, but she tried to ignore the fact. She closed her eyes, melting in his embrace like she used to, reveling in the feel of his strong arms around her, his hard chest beneath her cheek. She wished she could stay like this, with Ikuto, where she was sure nothing could ever hurt her.

Of course, now that Ikuto knew that Amu was cold, he wasn't going to let her sit in the snow for much longer. He suddenly stood up. Amu didn't object as he pulled her up with him. She wiped away the last of her tears just as Ikuto was leading her to the car.

"Wonder if it'll still work..." Ikuto muttered to himself as he opened the car door for Amu. Amu frowned. She still felt guilty for the whole 'making his car crash into a wall' thing, but she still slipped into the car without protest. Ikuto climbed into the drivers seat.

"So Amu," He told her softly. "I am so sorry f-for... for everything. For what happened with Suki, for being mean to you when we first met, for causing you so much trouble when I was staying with you, everything. Can you forgive me...?"

Amu closed her eyes and thought for a moment, weighing every little thing in her head. Despite the ups and downs, Ikuto would always be there with a smile and a shoulder to cry on for her. All the way up until that last moment, when Amu decided to leave.

Even so, it wasn't Ikuto's fault that he let Suki kiss him. It's not like he was hers or anything. He still had his free will. Amu knew that she shouldn't deny him of that.

Ikuto watched her carefully, his whole body tense. Amu finally opened her eyes again, a small smile playing on her lips and the old playfullness in her eyes beginning to revive it self again.

"Do I still have to pay for the car damages?" She joked. Ikuto smirked.

"Nope."

"Then you're forgiven," Amu told him. Ikuto grinned.

"Do you think you could..." He asked slowly. "Stay with me in the hotel room tonight...?"

Amu laughed.

"You pervert. Only if you don't do anything weird."

"... Fine. Then you're staying with me."

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu and Ikuto sat side by side on the large hotel bed, staring at each other as if there was a non-official blinking contest in between them. Amu bent her face towards him and waited until his lips met hers. He brought his mout to hers again and again, slowly and softly at first, but then with a growing urgency.

Minutes had passed, but Amu had no idea how many, when Ikuto pulled his face back from hers.

"I love you."

He said it simply, quietly. He didn't say those words as she had imagined them said so many times by characters in books and movies. He didn't say them with desperation, with pleading, with futile rage or florid passion. He spoke without lasciviousness; only with the intention of getting his point across and being understood.

But it was good enough for Amu. Her response was a smile that was radiant and beyond her control.

"You know I don't love Suki anymore, and I never will again," Ikuto continued. "I admit I did use to love her, but that was before and now-"

Amu heard enough, knowing that Ikuto was just going to say the same the thing over and over again with a different arrangement of words each time. She stopped Ikuto with a lasting, humid kiss. Ikuto smirked, but didn't try to continue what he was trying to say as he returned the kiss.

The two of them enjoyed those blissful moments for a while, until both were completely out of breath. Amu was already half asleep so Ikuto just let her be the way she was.

Later, at some remote part of the night, Amu woke up to find Ikuto laying next to her, examining her sleeping face. He watched her, and she watched him back. She got up and changed into one of Ikuto's shirts so she could be more comfortable when she slept, but she mostly spent the rest of the hours before morning curled up against his chest as tightly as possible.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu couldn't remember when her thoughts merged into sleep, but she knew exactly when she was wakened. There was the feeling of Ikuto shifting slightly on the bed in his sleep, and then Amu opened her eyes to find the room bathed in morning light.

She turned around and saw Ikuto's handsome, sleeping face beside her own on the bed. His face looked even in the better, at close range. The snow outside, which had stopped sometime in the night, had started up again, showering the outside view with little white specks.

Shrugging, Amu moved back into the warmth of the sleeping form beside her and let her eyelids flutter contentedly shut. She was going to enjoy being sound asleep in Ikuto's arms for just a few moments longer.

**- Christmas Day -**

"Merry Christmas, Amu," Ikuto said as the girl being spoken of dragged him out of the hotel. Amu turned around and laughed.

"Christmas!" She said, sounding a lot like a small child excited about their upcoming birthday. "Can we go play in the snow today?"

Ikuto smiled and nodded. Amu continued tugging him towards a park across the street. As soon as the two of them got there, Amu packed together a snow ball and threw it at Ikuto. It hit him square in the face.

"So you're aim really has improved since last time," Ikuto said as he brushed the snow away from his face. He was referring to all those paper fights the two of them had back in Ikuto's office.

Amu grinned.

"So now I can hit you with more snowballs than you can hit me with" She screamed cheerfully as she gathered up some more snow to throw it him. Ikuto smirked.

"No way," He said skeptically. "I'll always be able to throw better than you. Don't deny it.'

Amu put on a cute pouting face, raising her arm to throw another snow ball at Ikuto. Unfortunately, just as she was about to throw, she was pelted in the head by three snowballs. She fell backwards into the snow, shaking with laughter.

"Point proven," Ikuto teased, walking over and extending an arm out to help Amu up again. Amu stood up and shook her head.

"Never," She said determinedly, beginning to form a small pile of snowballs next to her. Ikuto joined in on her laughter as he began to do the same.

Anyone walking by would have given a strange look to the two people that were practically adults and yet still throwing snow at each other. But to Amu and Ikuto, they were having fun while in love.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu lay in Ikuto's arms, still laughing yet completely exhausted from their mini-war. Ikuto lay beside her in the snow, panting while just as worn out as the girl next to him.

"That was fun," Amu breathed contentedly, resting her head on the crook of his elbow. Ikuto smiled and nodded.

"So now that I know that you live here," He said. "Can I come visit you often? It's not too far from Easter, so I should be able to find some excuse to come here every now and then?"

Amu's smile faded and she shook her head. Ikuto listened and watched her intently as she explained her situation. About how she just lost her job, and wouldn't be able to pay for the apartment for much longer.

Ikuto suddenly sat up, pulling Amu with him.

"You're moving in with me," He said simply. "Back to Tokyo. In my house. If you don't like anything that's in my house, we can get rid of it all and replace it with what you want. I don't care. But you're going to live wth me."

He turned to look at Amu, who was idly piling up some snow on the ground to make a small hill of the white powdery stuff.

"Amu!" Ikuto said, pretending to be frustrated. "Were you even listening?!"

Amu looked up at him, a wide smile on her face as she nodded.

"Yup!" She said in her usual childish tone. "Now listen to this great idea I have!"

Ikuto laughed and shook his head. Amu probably hadn't been listening at all.

Amu stood up in front of him.

"We're going to make a snowman!" She said excitedly. "The biggest snowman ever! It's going to be so big that they're going to have to give us a world record for it!"

Ikuto sighed. Amu's childish and immature side was so much fun to be around. It used to annoy him so much, but now he wanted it to be with him forever. Laughing, he stood up and began to gather snow to help Amu with her "giant snowman".

He loved Amu, and now he didn't have to be afraid and hide it deep in his heart. It was Christmas. And Amu was pressuring him to win a world record with her.

Today couldn't get any better for him.

**- Epilogue... sort of... I think -**

Suki flipped through the channels on TV boredly. Ikuto had never showed up, and she ended up in front of Easter's building instead of their "special place".

She continued until she saw one show in particular that caught her eye. It was something about how a couple won a world record for building the world's largest snowman.

"A snowman?" She asked herself. "How stupid."

But then she saw exactly _who _it was winning.

.... It was Ikuto and Amu.

Suki shook her head sadly.

_I give up. That guy's just too dedicated._

_

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**OH MY GOD. SO FREAKING LONG.**

**Review. 7OO? Please? Onegai?**

**Thank you to those who were kind enough to review every single chapter, all the way to the end. I love you guys :)**

**And about my next story, could you guys all go and vote again? I'm kind of "meh" about doing ****_Prisoner of Love_, which got the most votes. While I was gone, I was thinking about that, and I figured that there was no way I could do a story like that. Everyone would be a bit too OOC.**

**So go ahead and vote again. It's an all new poll, just with no ****_Prisoner of Love_. I'll be back later today to check the results.**


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